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Ipsos has closed the sale of 80% of its wholly owned subsidiary in Russia, Ipsos Comcon LLC, to Direct Investments JSC, a company run by businessman Andrei Malyshev. The move is to comply with a law limiting foreign ownership of MR companies in the country, which comes into force this weekend. More
In the UK, a new company called Automotive Insights has launched, providing 'just-in-time' market intelligence from surveying 1,000 motorists each month. More
Manchester, UK-headquartered behavioural data company RealityMine has appointed Phil Miles, a member of its Board since 2024 and a former Managing Director at Google and YouTube, as its new Chairman. More
Kantar has announced a series of strategic leadership appointments, underlining the importance of North America in its growth strategy. Former group CGO Chris Petranto becomes Chief Client Officer NA; Brian James becomes Chief Solutions Officer NA; and Rachelle Minnis takes a new EVP role. More
Strategic research consultancy 5D has launched a market intelligence hub, 5D Nexus, designed to bring together fragmented data sources and give organisations a forward-looking view of their business and the competitive landscape. More
Accenture Ventures, the consulting giant's investment arm, has given its backing to Profitmind, an agentic AI decision intelligence platform built for retail teams, as part of a $9m seed round. The funds will fuel global scaling of the platform, recruitment and further extension of platform capabilities. More
US-based ad platform Infillion, the company that bought MediaMath in 2023, has announced the acquisition of veteran purchase intelligence company Catalina. Financial terms were not disclosed. More
Ad effectiveness platform System1 has appointed Mohan (Mo) Taylor as Chief Product and Technology Officer; moved Orlando Wood to Chief Creative Officer; and promoted both Andrew Tindall and Tristan Findlay to separate Chief Growth Officer roles. Chief Customer Officer Jon Evans departs the firm. More
Latana, a firm based in Berlin and offering an AI-powered brand tracking and consumer insights platform, has appointed Heather Prekop as SVP Commercial Development. Prekop will lead the company's presence in the US, where it has enjoyed rapid growth of late. More
Milieu Insight has named former NielsenIQ Director Cindy Pang as its CEO for Southeast Asia, effective immediately and leading the firm's regional strategy, commercial execution and growth. More
Kantar has appointed Tim Kibbey, a twelve-year veteran of the company, as Head of Qualitative for its Canadian business. More
In the US, a firm called TBD has launched out of private beta with $3 million in seed funding, offering a prediction market protocol designed to measure verified human sentiment. More
SurveyMonkey has launched a free tools hub, based around its AI survey generator, allowing any visitor to create an AI-powered survey and access a suite of research tools, with no account required. More
Following last week's addition of OpinionWay as its representative in France, the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN) has added SWG as member in Italy. More
Kantar has promoted Ndeye Diagne to serve as Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Middle East, Africa & Türkiye (MEA&T), charged with leading regional strategic initiatives to help clients unlock greater value from data, technology and intelligence. She starts next week. More
Following its recent acquisition of in-survey data quality solution ReDem, Rep Data has appointed the company's leaders to its senior leadership team: Florian Kögl as Managing Director for Europe, and Julia Mittermayr as EVP of Strategic Growth. More
In the UK, Potentia Insight has appointed former GfK and Savanta employee Ben Hunt as Sales Director. More
Nielsen has announced the addition of more than 200 new advanced audience segments, available in its cross-media planning and measurement solution Nielsen ONE. The offering makes use of the national consumer dataset of its consumer insights solutions arm, Scarborough. More
In New York, marketing software firm Zeta Global has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, with annual revenue up 29.7% to $1,305m and adjusted EBITDA up 44% to $278.7m. More
In London, research and analytics firm Phronesis Partners has appointed Massimiliano Sarracino as EMEA Sales Director, supporting its expansion across the region. More
Canadian venture studio AXL and independent marketing and media agency PUSH Media have partnered to launch STRATIS, an agentic AI operating system pulling together fragmented data for use by marketing intelligence and operations. More
Following its acquisition by H.I.G. Capital in August last year, Kantar Media has announced it is rebranding as Fifty5Blue. More
Ipsos has announced full year 2025 results, with revenue of EUR 2,525 million, up 3.4% as reported, but relatively flat (+0.6%) in organic terms. More
PureSpectrum has appointed Emma Roberts as Sales Director, ANZ, and Leyfa Vakimes as Associate Director, ANZ Services, while Chris Mawn is promoted to Vice President in the region after three years with the company. More
Savanta has appointed former PSB Insights CEO Dave Gordon as Chief Commercial Officer, based in Boston, MA; and Anna Hamlin as Global VP of HR, based in London. More
Los Angeles-based marketing firm RAD Intel has launched a new business, Lickly, which promises mid-market brands access to an audience intelligence platform rivalling that of major corporates; and also spun out its RAD Amplify managed-services provider unit into a standalone company. More
Solid, a firm helping AI agents to understand business context, has publicly launched after two years in stealth mode, with $20 million in seed funding. The money will be used to accelerate product development, expand the team, and support a fast-growing customer base. More
Kantar has appointed Brandon Kirk as Vice President, Growth & Strategy, Media Measurement, leading its Canadian Media Effectiveness practice. More
In the US, marketing solutions firm OneMagnify has acquired the Performance Marketing business of Optimal, which specializes in performance media and audience data solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More
In Vancouver, Rival Group has appointed Chartered Accountant, audit and governance expert Judy Adam to its Board of Directors. More
Ipsos has appointed Nathan Brumby as Chief Platforms and Technology Officer. Current COO Michel Guidi, will step down from his role 'in the coming weeks' to pursue opportunities outside the Group. More
The Malaysian Digital Association (MDA), the country's representative body for online publishers, ad agencies and digital service providers, has reappointed Comscore as its official Audience Measurement / Currency Partner and Similarweb as its Market Insights Partner. More
In a subcommittee hearing this month in the US, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has raised serious issues with current official definitions of 'what it means to be poor or in poverty in America', suggesting the figure should be 1% not 11%. Commerce Secretary Harold Lutnick appeared to agree to a review. More
Field management company FUEL has promoted Bart Hofford to Head of Global Research and Malin Tjus to VP of Global Healthcare. More
Australia-based MR and behavioural science consultancy Honeycomb Strategy has appointed former STRAT7 Incite advisor Kieran Collins as Strategy Director; and Luke Chen, formerly of Bastion, as Senior Strategy Consultant. More
Trade association IAB Australia has launched a Retail Media Certification Program for the county's store chains, based on a model developed by IAB Europe. The program will independently audit retail media measurement practices and award a certification badge for compliant and 'mature' measurement. More
Global CRM giant Salesforce is to acquire San Francisco-based conversational insights and revenue orchestration platform Momentum. More
San Francisco-based customer journey analysis and optimization company Kana has secured $15 million in seed funding, with which to expand its engineering, product and go-to-market teams. More
Kantar Media has appointed Mike Walsh, global CEO of legal and professional services company LexisNexis, to its Board of Directors. More
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has given more details of its ongoing program to focus in on essential, high quality economic and social statistics for the country's decision-makers - also described as a 'drive to put quality over quantity.' More
Data collection and MR consulting firm High Beam Global (HBG) has appointed former Dynata exec James Weatherbed as Director of Business Development and Account Management. More
helia, the customer engagement agency within marcoms group Havas, has appointed Andy O'Carroll as its first Chief Creative Officer. More
Canadian-owned polling, market research and analytics firm Leger is integrating a Smart Persona tool developed by Plus Company, allowing real-time dialogue with customized synthetic personas built from Leger's data. More
Consumer intelligence platform quantilope has extended its AI assistant quinn to serve as a 'fully end-to-end' AI research partner, promising to develop client projects in 'minutes'. More
France-based researcher OpinionWay has joined international agency alliance the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN), as its exclusive partner for the French market. More
European-based data agency Tasman Analytics has appointed Mike Jones to serve in a new role, Chief Product & Technology Officer, driving a strategic shift towards the productization of its services and operational systems. More
In New York, ad agency Meet The People (MTP) has launched an AI-enabled platform called MTP Intelligence, bringing marketing disciplines from creative to measurement and analytics into a single integrated technology environment. More
Swedish company Agaton has emerged from stealth mode with EUR 8.4 million in seed funding, fuelling further development of its AI platform, which analyses customer conversations to identify and action sales opportunities. More
YouGov interim Chair Deborah Davis has stepped down from the role and from the Board, the company has announced. Her permanent replacement is Ian Griffiths, who joined the Board in September 2025 and is a former Deputy CEO of Kantar. More
Decision data and analytics company Similarweb has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025. Total revenue was up 13% to $282.6m, but the company reported a GAAP net loss of $32.9m, while adjusted net income fell from 6% of revenue to 3% ($9.1m). More
In Rochester, NY, healthcare insights firm KJT has announced the integration of its Sparq Intelligence solutions into the KJT brand, bringing AI-supported qualitative and predictive capabilities directly into its core solutions. More
New York-based predictive customer intelligence firm QuadSci has secured $8 million in Series A financing, with which to accelerate product development, expand go-to-market teams, and support continued global growth. More
Kantar has appointed Sam Rihani as Managing Director of its business in Sweden, based in Stockholm and effective immediately. More
New York-based Becausal, specialist in causal AI-based CPG and retailer audience intelligence, has partnered with ad effectiveness analytics firm ABCS Insights to offer a new solution, the 'Always-On Sales Lift Measurement Module.' More
Knowledge sharing and decision-making platform Stravito has upgraded its AI Assistant with the addition of an option called Deep Research Agent, which it says helps businesses facing complex challenges demanding comprehensive analysis. More
Toronto, Canada-based Dig Insights has combined the technologies of its OneCliq and Upsiide brands into a new offer called Dig One, aiming to replace 'static' and 'episodic' outputs with a 'living' system of connected and continuously-updated insights. The company also has a refreshed visual identity. More
In London, insight agency Verve has announced five appointments to the team delivering its fast-growing synthetic personas proposition, VIPS. Chloe Stevens steps into the new role of Growth Director, while Tana-Maria Botezat, Nicole Seow, Benjamin Huaraka and Daniel Zhang also join the team. More
Data integration and transformation giant Databricks has announced Q4 results showing c.65% revenue growth. Its Series L finance round, now extended to $7 billion, will be used to drive development of its Lakebase database for AI agents and its conversational assistant Genie. More
Britain's statistical authority the ONS has this week begun a consultation on updating its Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). The organisation is already in the process of refreshing the Standard Industrial Classification, or SIC, for publication next month. More
In New York, consumer behavior, and analytics consultancy GBK Collective has promoted Rebecca Szew to Partner and Chief Client Officer. More
Vilnius, Lithuania-based research tech and data solutions provider Syno International has partnered with RAM Market Research to deliver enhanced cross-media measurement, custom studies and brand lift analytics. More
Pureprofile is acquiring Australian qual specialist CRNRSTONE Research, formerly known as Stable Research, from its current owner Bastion Group, for a total consideration of $AUD 700,000. More
In London, Kantar Media has announced the appointment of long-time Nielsen researcher Toni Petra as Chief Operations and Technology Officer, bringing together the two teams under one leader. She starts on 1st April. More
MR ops specialist Research Clever has reported rapid growth, new offices in central London, and the appointments of Payal Jani as Operations Director, and Frankie Slattery, Kristian Barnard and Wendy Phu in Senior Manager roles. More
Los Angeles-based MarketCast has appointed Aimee Gerry and Eric Morse, both with the job title of VP of Commercial. More
Independent marketing services and technology group PMG has opened two new offices, in Mexico City and Toronto, Canada, describing the moves as 'a significant milestone in its global growth strategy.' The firm says it will hire for a wide range of roles in both locations. More
Data and insights business Delineate has appointed brand strategist and marketing effectiveness expert Nigel Hollis, veteran of Millward Brown and Kantar, as an Advisor. More
AI firm Simile has secured $100m in funding, to develop its prediction technology, whose applications range from forecasting consumer behavior to suggesting likely questions from analysts during company earnings calls. More
Veteran US public opinion pollster Gallup announced this week it will cease its tracking of Presidential approval, after 88 years, with a spokesman saying the ratings 'no longer represent an area where Gallup can make its most distinctive contribution.' More
Global research association ESOMAR has chosen past President Ray Poynter as Chair of its Professional Standards Committee (PSC). More
In New York, Comcast Advertising has announced a partnership with travel and tourism data platform Adara to offer the sector 'deterministic-based measurement', at scale, for TV and streaming. More
Manchester, UK-based MR operations support specialist Omnisis has enhanced its data collection capabilities with an upgrade to its PackSpin survey question type. The tool now allows participants to move, zoom in, and annotate 3D shapes and packaging. More
US-based entertainment tech company and studio Cineverse Corp is to acquire CTV monetization platform IndiCue, Inc., whose software helps publishers and streaming operators manage, optimize and grow their advertising revenue, while improving user experience. More
Cambridge, MA-based technology research and consulting firm Forrester has announced an 8.2% fall in revenue to $396.9 million, in the full year 2025. Adjusted net income was $22.2m, although the reported figure, including a large goodwill impairment charge, was a net loss of $119.4m. More
In the UK, synthetic audience modelling firm Electric Twin has secured $14m in funding, for international expansion and further development of its prediction technology, including new use cases. The raise includes a previously undisclosed $4m pre-seed round. More
In New York, AI visibility specialist Brandlight has announced $30m in Series A funding, with which to accelerate the development of its platform, and scale its business. More
In Chicago, consumer data giant Circana has appointed new Board members: Brian Cornell, Executive Chair of Target Corp.; Lauren Cooks Levitan, ROOT co-founder and Lead Independent Director at e.l.f. Beauty; and Rohit Prasad, former Head of Artificial General Intelligence at Amazon. More
TVision, which measures second-by-second television and CTV viewer engagement, has extended an agreement delivering its person-level calibration data for CTV to video audience measurement specialist VideoAmp. More
In the US, cross-industry group the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) has added Disney's Dana McGraw, and Ben Hovaness of OMD to its Board of Directors. More
Veteran business data firm Thomson Reuters Corporation has acquired Noetica, Inc., a New York-based AI-native start-up whose software turns transaction-deal data into structured market intelligence for deal professionals. More
Predictive audience intelligence company Wiland has launched RetailSignals, the latest in its MarketSignals family of solutions, promising retailers help in tapping real-world consumer spending data to fuel acquisition, retention and growth. More
In London, strategic insight consultancy Firefish has announced the promotion of Lizzy Moroney to UK Managing Director, and the appointment of Jenny Kieras as Head of Growth. More
Australia-based cultural insights and strategy company The Lab has appointed Maria Georgopoulou as Senior Quant Strategist, and Ernest Mo as Quant Strategist. James Rochlin has been promoted to Executive Director, leading the now six-strong quant team. More
Tel Aviv-based Similarweb has launched an intelligence solution called AI Studio, which combines its proprietary digital intelligence with expert AI agents to deliver three distinct capabilities: Chat, a conversational Q&A interface; automated reporting tool Deep Research; and visualization tool AI Dashboards. More
In New York, tech solutions provider Guideline has announced the launch of an innovation engine, the 'AI Factory', designed to help clients make more rapid and effective use of its Ad Intelligence products and Media Plan Management technologies. More
Rep Data has acquired ReDem, an in-survey data quality solution, strengthening its end-to-end survey fraud prevention offering. More
US-based cross-platform ad measurement and attribution company iSpot has launched an agentic AI-powered solution called SAGE, backed by an investment in NVIDIA AI servers which allow it to extract metadata and storylines from every frame of 2.5m ads, and compile themes from some 100m survey verbatims. More
In the US, B2B data firm ZoomInfo has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31st. Reported annual revenue rose 3% to $1,249.5m, while adjusted operating income was up 4% to $445.9m. More
UK-headquartered insight group STRAT7 has promoted Helen Donald to serve as Managing Director of its Advisory practice, one of its seven divisions which is focused on helping clients convert insight into impact. More
Ad tech and measurement firm tvScientific has appointed Heather Carver as Chief Customer Officer. More
Stockholm-based knowledge sharing and decision-making platform Stravito has appointed Tina Cush as Vice President of Marketing. More
Nielsen picked Sunday's Super Bowl for the launch of an enhanced methodology promising more accurate measurement of co-viewing, especially for live events. The pilot service will run for a number of other major live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. More
Pureprofile has appointed James Ward as Client Development Director in its UK team. He joins from panels company Norstat where he was Client Account Director. More
In the UK, fast-growing agency Basis Global has hired former B2B International leader Conor Wilcock as Managing Director, B2B. More
In London, research agency FlexMR has launched a CX Practice, led by Charlotte Duff and bringing together consulting and technology to analyse customer data from multiple touchpoints. The news comes just three weeks after it added a consulting division called the 'Closeness Practice'. More
In San Francisco, a company called Sentra has raised a $5 million seed round for development of software promising to 'transform companies into cognitive organisms.' With its roots in research from MIT, Sentra continuously builds a timeline of a firm's decisions and commitments, and learns its priorities. More
In Raleigh, NC, USA, L&E Research has announced the appointment of longtime Procter & Gamble employee Andrea Swinicki as Research Design Engineer. More
London-based sports data tech firm Genius Sports is to acquire Legend, a global digital sports and gaming media network which helps clients to monetize their assets. The deal values Legend at up to $1.2 billion, the last quarter of which is dependent on near future results. More
In New York, audio industries tech and services company Triton Digital has announced the launch of the Podcast Metrics Industry Feature Set, a suite of analytics solutions giving publishers access to benchmarks, market share and audience data across the top 20 podcast markets worldwide. More
Michael Walrath, CEO and Board Chairman of US-based digital presence and knowledge management platform Yext, has withdrawn his proposal to acquire all the remaining shares in the company. Instead, the company has approved a 'Dutch auction' self-tender of $150m of common stock. More
Eyetracking tech firm Tobii has reported an organic decline of 10% in net sales to SEK 193m ($US 21.4m), and EBIT of SEK -196m ($US -21.7m), in the fourth quarter. Excepting non-cash write-offs of goodwill, fair value adjustments and project write-offs, EBIT was SEK -1 million ($US -111k). More
In the US, Fox Corporation-owned streaming service Tubi has announced a new, multiyear partnership with Nielsen, giving it access to Audience Measurement and Streaming Platform Ratings, National TV research and Ad Intel. The two already work together for Digital Ad Ratings and Nielsen ONE Ads. More
Asia Pacific CEO Jason Scott has departed ad tech firm MiQ, according to reports. Scott has led the region for three years, and was previously ANZ Chief Exec for three years. More
YouGov has launched an AI-powered qual tool called BrandIndex Voices, which collects and analyses consumer conversations on a quant scale to reveal why brand perceptions change. More
In San Francisco, an enterprise data management and analytics platform called Fundamental has opened its doors with funding of $255 million, and launched its first product, NEXUS. This uses a 'Large Tabular Model' to convert clients' enterprise data into predictive intelligence and forecasts. More
In New York, video ad outcomes measurement firm EDO has announced a conversational AI agent called ChatEDO, accelerating access to its extensive database of Convergent TV advertising activity and outcomes. More
Growgetter, a growth marketing firm focused on the MR and CX sectors, has relaunched with a wider range of services, positioning itself as a 'full-funnel, end-to-end growth partner.' More
Manchester, UK-based pharma insights firm Beyond Blue has hired Kristina DiPietrantonio as Head of its Strategy division, working to bridge the gap between insight and real world execution. More
Data collaboration platform LiveRamp has announced quarterly revenue up 9% to $212 million, and non-GAAP operating income up 36% to $62 million. More
Kantar has appointed former Googler Rika Sharma as Executive Managing Director for its Southeast Asia Cluster and Singapore business. More
In New York, omnichannel advertising software firm Mediaocean has added to the responsibilities of Zvika Netter, CEO and co-founder of its digital measurement firm Innovid: he will now also serve in the new group role of Chief Innovation Officer. More
STRAT7 has launched an AI hub called Nucleus, developed in partnership with clients over the last two years and composed of a suite of agents, embedded into every stage of its processes and promising 'faster, more impactful insights.' More
Chicago-based customer experience and marketing automation platform ActiveCampaign has announced the acquisition of Feedback Intelligence, provider of an AI tool which analyses unstructured conversations. More
Online Sample specialist Full Circle Research has appointed Julia White as Director, Sales. More
In Sydney, Australia, analysis and reporting platform Displayr has launched 'Chat + Agents', a new AI-powered feature which allows teams to interrogate data sets and trigger automated research workflows without leaving their analysis environment. More
In the US, healthcare intelligence company Konovo has announced the acquisition of Rare Patient Voice (RPV), which recruits patients with rare, chronic and complex conditions for participation in market and UX research, as well as clinical trials. More
IT consulting and research giant Gartner has reported results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025. Annual revenue rose 3% on an FX neutral basis, to $6.5bn, while adjusted EBITDA was up 2% to $1.6bn. The firm's Insights and Events divisions grew, while Consulting revenue declined some 13%. More
Experience Management company Qualtrics has found a new CEO: Jason Maynard joins this week from Oracle, where he was EVP of Revenue Operations. More
Global consumer data company Circana has launched 'Attribute Marketplace', a platform allowing clients to browse external datasets, select the attributes they need, and use them to enhance their current data and analyses. More
Ipsos has appointed Natalie Otte as its Country Manager in South Africa, starting this week. Otte has served as Chief Client & Commercial Officer for Kantar's Insights Division in the country since 2019. More
Austin, Texas-based online survey and research services firm QuestionPro is to merge with its long-time sister company Trymata, provider of a UX research and usability testing platform. More
In the US, biopharma-focused behavioral-science research and tech firm BEESY has received a minority investment from Denali Growth Partners (DGP), allowing it to continue investing in product innovation, and accelerate its growth across new geographies and therapeutic areas. More
Singapore MR and data agency Milieu Insight has announced changes in its senior leadership, with Gaurang Kotak appointed as COO. Founders Gerald Ang and Juda Kanaprach, formerly COO and Chief Commercial Officer / CMO respectively, will move into advisory roles, albeit closely involved with the company. More
US nonprofit MRII and its partner the University of Georgia have launched Knowledge Navigator, a new tech-enabled tool promising 'clear, reliable answers to research and insights questions in seconds.' MRII says the tool 'draws from proven, industry-recognized expertise, not generic AI responses.' More
In New York, Radius Insights has announced a merger with ONE Strategy Studio, an AI-first insight and innovation agency focused on 'speed to impact.' More
US professional membership organisation the Insights Association has found its new Chief Executive, former Kantar researcher Anita Watkins. She replaces Melanie Courtright, who left three months ago to become Chief Strategy Officer at Sago. More
US-based Sago Health has rebranded as TriVoca Health, reflecting 'a continued commitment to helping healthcare companies hear from patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals' - three voices. Sago sold the division six months ago. More
US insights firm CMB has appointed Kate Sowder as Vice President of Advanced Analytics & Data Strategy, with a remit to lead and develop the firm's capabilities in the area. More
More than a dozen UK-based research agencies involved in face-to-face research are working together to restore numbers of qualified interviewers available for studies across the country. More
Birmingham, UK-based social research agency M.E.L Research has strengthened its evaluation capability and face-to-face fieldwork delivery with the appointments of Dr Bianca Bailey Wilson as Head of Evaluation and Amanda Brightman as Field Team Manager. More
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