News notes
Canada-based research firm itracks announced that a license has been negotiated between itracks and 20/20 Research, Nashville, Tenn., for itracks’ U.S. Patent No. 6,256,663, an invention entitled System and Method For Conducting Focus Groups Using Remotely Located Participants Over A Computer Network. The patent was issued on July 3, 2001 and subsequently assigned to itracks. The terms of the license agreement are confidential.
In April, the European Union filed formal antitrust charges against Google, charging that it skewed its Internet search results to favor its own comparison-shopping service in breach of EU antitrust rules. The competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, is also investigating Google’s Android mobile operating system. Google currently accounts for 90 percent of all Internet searches in Europe. A memo to Google employees said that Google had a “very strong case” against the charges, one defense being that Google offers a quicker and more direct service to consumers. Previously, the EU had filed antitrust charges against Microsoft in 1993 which resulted in Microsoft paying more than $2 billion in fines in 2009.
The National Readership Survey (NRS), London, which provided Web site and print readership figures for all major U.K. newspapers and magazines, has been replaced by PAMCO (the Publishers Audience Measurement Company). PAMCO will incorporate data from new devices and platforms. Simon Redican, NRS CEO, has been named PAMCO’s CEO-designate.
Several child and consumer protection groups, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the Consumers Union, have requested that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigate Google’s YouTubeKids app. YouTubeKids provides programming from National Geographic Kids, Thomas & Friends and Reading Rainbow. The child advocacy groups argue that the videos intermix videos with commercial content in ways that would not be allowed on broadcast or cable television.
A class-action lawsuit has been brought against Facebook in Cook County Court, Ill., asking for a court injunction that would require Facebook to comply with the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2008. The plaintiffs argue that Facebook is in violation of the Act as it currently collects users’ facial data with its automatic photo tagging feature which scans all pictures uploaded by users. The information is then compiled in a database of consumer biometric data to allow tagging of photos. Lead plaintiff Carlo Licata says he was never asked for permission before his facial data was collected and stored or given an opportunity to opt out. The Illinois law states that companies must obtain written permission from people before collecting biometric data and notify people when they gather such data. Facebook was forced to close down the facial recognition feature in Europe due to privacy concerns.
Following the March death of veteran researcher William “Jay” Wilson, the W. Jay Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established at Colby-Sawyer College. Donations can be made c/o Beth Cahill, Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257.
IBM plans to invest $3 billion over the next four years to establish an Internet of Things (IoT) division, designed to help clients integrate data from IoT and other sources. The company estimates that 90 percent of data generated from smartphones, tablets, connected vehicles and appliances is never used. Bob Picciano, senior vice president of IBM Analytics, commented, “IBM will enable clients and industry partners to apply IoT data to build solutions based on an open platform. This is a major focus of investment for IBM because it’s a rich and broad-based opportunity where innovation matters.”
The Media Rating Council (MRC), New York, has found that New York researcher Rentrak’s national and local TV ratings products are as yet “not sufficiently compliant with its standards,” following more than a year of auditing. However, the MRC pointed out that it is not unusual for “a complex rating service” to not pass the initial audit” and stressed that work with Rentrak is ongoing. A Rentrak spokesman said that after a remediation period, the firm will begin the next audit before the end of the year.
New York researcher Nielsen will begin offering data on viewing by Netflix and Amazon Prime subscribers starting in the middle of the year. The technology utilizes listening capabilities in its set-top boxes. It will not work for original Netflix programs such as House of Cards.
Acquisitions/transactions
Dentsu Aegis Network, a London marketing and advertising company, has acquired Forbes Consulting Group, a Lexington, Mass., research firm. Forbes will become part of Copernicus, the marketing strategy consultancy, with Forbes founder David Forbes serving as chief innovation officer of Copernicus.
Direct marketing firm Harte Hanks has sold its Aberdeen Group and Harte Hanks Market Intelligence to subsidiaries of the private equity firm Halyard Capital. Aberdeen Group is a technology researcher that provides reports based on primary research and benchmarking data; Harte Hanks provides technology industry data for marketing and sales. The two businesses will be known as The Aberdeen Group. Terms were not disclosed.
WPP has acquired Medialets, a New York technology company that helps marketers manage and measure the ROI of mobile ad campaigns. It will continue to operate as a separate company.
Chicago research firm Information Resources Inc. has acquired Datasea, a China-based analytic services and market research firm specializing in the retail and CPG industries.
New York social technology specialist Sprinklr has acquired Get Satisfaction, a San Francisco-based online community platform. Sprinklr says that the acquisition adds to its social media tools for customer relationship, campaign and audience management.
Englewood, Colo., information services firm IHS has acquired RootMetrics, a Bellevue, Wash., mobile network specialist. Terms were not disclosed.
Merkle, a Columbia, Md., marketing agency, has acquired Pointmarc, an analytics consultancy in Bellevue, Wash. The Pointmarc employees will join Merkle’s quantitative marketing group.
Stockholm public relations software specialist Cision has acquired Viralheat, a San Mateo, Calif., social media analytics software firm.
In Shelton, Conn., SSI has completed the acquisition of the majority of assets of Philadelphia research firm MRops.
Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired abaGada Internet Ltd., a Tel Aviv, Israel-based digital performance marketing agency. AbaGada will become part of Dentsu Aegis Network and transition towards operating as iProspect – Dentsu Aegis Network’s global digital performance agency.
Public relations firm Edelman will acquire DABO & CO, an independent communications agency in the UAE. The agency will offer creative, research, planning and event management across the Middle East.
New York marketing and advertising company Xaxis has acquired Action Exchange, a New York ad technology firm.
Los Angeles technology firm MarketShare has acquired DataSong, a San Francisco retail analytics specialist. DataSong CEO John Wallace will become chief growth officer at MarketShare and Mike DeVries, DataSong president, will become head of business management.
Microsoft has closed its acquisition of Revolution Analytics, Mountain View, Calif., which provides tools for the open source R programming language. Dave Rich, CEO at Revolution, will become the general manager of advanced analytics at Microsoft.
Vox Media, a marketing and advertising firm, has acquired fellow Washington, D.C., firm OpBandit, a software specialist, in a move designed to help online publishers and marketers track how the online behavior of their readers. Vox Media will integrate the OpBandit technology into its Chorus platform. OpBandit founders Brian Muller and Blaine Sheldon will join the Vox Product team.
Kairos, a Miami technology company, has acquired IMRSV, a New York software firm specializing in emotion analysis by gathering audience data such as gender, age and attention time using a Webcam and its Cara platform.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Kantar is partnering with Reston, Va., research company comScore to provide Internet audience measurement services in non-U.S. markets. ComScore will issue 4.45 percent in shares for the benefits of the strategic alliance and WPP will purchase up to 15 percent of comScore’s shares, giving WPP a total ownership stake of 15 to 20 percent.
Irvine, Calif., real estate company RealtyTrac has joined with Acxiom, a Little Rock, Ark., analytics and software company, in a multiyear agreement to include RealtyTrac’s national tax assessor and recorder files and pre-foreclosure information in Acxiom’s databases, including InfoBase and AbiliTec.
New York online technology firm AOL has expanded its partnership with FourthWall Media, a Dulles, Va., researcher, to provide viewer information from approximately 2 million U.S. households for targeted television advertising.
New York researcher Nielsen is partnering with RetailNext, a San Jose, Calif., provider of retail analytics of in-store data for brick-and-mortar stores. The RetailNext programs will be combined with Nielsen’s sales performance, promotion, pricing and merchandising information to better analyze shopper behavior.
ThinkNow Research, Burbank, Calif., and Vancouver software firm Vision Critical are partnering to utilize the Vision Critical customer intelligence platform with ThinkNow research projects.
The Data Alliance marketing company of WPP, New York, and Facebook have agreed to a multi-year partnership to provide WPP clients with access to new personalization options on Facebook. WPP companies will also be working with Facebook to pilot new data-driven measuring tools and conduct research on services and metrics that will help brands better utilize their Facebook campaigns.
Association/organization news
At their respective board meetings held in Las Vegas earlier this year, the boards of directors of POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) and A.R.E. (the Association for Retail Environments) voted to consider a merger. Both non-profit associations will now enter a due diligence phase and hold a vote of all active members.
The Marketing Research Association (MRA) has lined up multiple business organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Internet Association and the National Restaurant Association, to oppose making responses to the American Community Survey (ACS) voluntary, rather than mandatory, as it currently stands. The ACS is a Census Bureau survey which provides statistically representative samples for most of the surveys, opinion and market research studies in the U.S. The organizations sent letters to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate urging that the ACS continue as a mandatory survey.
Awards/rankings
Omaha, Neb., research firm the MSR Group awarded Investors Bank its APECS Customer Advocacy Award, Northeast Region, for the second consecutive year. The award is given to the retail bank receiving the highest net advocacy rating among its regional customers.
New accounts/projects
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. has contracted with Vital Insights, a Mississauga, Ontario, research company, for use of its survey and analytics tools.
Stockholm software firm Cint has secured a multi-year agreement with Nuremberg, Germany, research company the GfK Group for access to Cint’s OpinionHUB marketplace and support on API integrations and supply chain management.
Portland, Ore., researcher Rentrak contracted with Carnival Cinemas, India, to provide its box office reporting system in its theaters. Separately, Rentrak announced it will provide TV ratings and IHS Polk Automotive data to Discovery Communications. This will provide more comprehensive measurement of advertising campaigns on Discovery’s collection of networks. Rentrakhas also signed a multi-year contract with WUSA9, the Gannett-owned CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., to provide TV measurement services. Also Rentrak has signed a TV measurement agreement with KDOC-TV(IND) in Los Angeles.
Market Publishers, London, has reached an agreement with QYResearch to add its studies to the Market Publishers catalogue.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
In New York, analytics specialist Madison Logic Data has been renamed Bombora.
Fayetteville, Ark., mobile survey firm Field Agent is expanding into Romania, adding to its operations in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
WPP data company the Data Alliance, New York, has opened a new office in Cape Town, South Africa, to be led by managing director Devon Tighe.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), Washington, D.C., plans to create a new department, the Retail Research and Analysis Center, which will focus on industry research and bring together all existing research within NRF. The Center will examine the economy, legislative and regulatory policy, the retail industry and consumers.
WPP has established a marketing insight consultancy, Gain Theory, within its GroupM division but separate from its media-buying. Its team of marketing effectiveness consultants and analysts will be led by worldwide CEO Jason Harrison. Gain Theory will have hubs in New York, London and Bangalore.
SPA Future Thinking has re-branded as Future Thinking with a redesigned Web site at futurethinking.com. Jon Priest, group CEO, and Richard Barton, group managing director, and the present senior management team will continue in their current roles.
In Haryana, India, a new company, SampTech Consulting Services, has been launched by Sandeep Chibber and Ashish Mathur. The firm will offer a range of services to help retailers and corporate clients understand consumer choices and motivations.
Provo, Utah-based software firm Qualtrics has opened an engineering office in Seattle, to be headed by John Thimsen.
Japanese research firm Macromill has opened an office in Singapore and hired Rob Valsler as its managing director.
Stockholm software company Dapresy has opened an office in Toronto. It will be headed by Jonathon Ware, vice president, business development, Canada.
Dan Soulas has launched his own research firm, Market Intel Group, near Philadelphia. Dan was previously U.S. managing director at Ebiqity.
West Sussex research firm product perceptions has re-branded to PPL Insights to reflect the wider scope of services being offered. Its Web site has also been redesigned.
Richard Matthews and his wife Catherine have launched a public relations and communications firm, Spotty Dog Strategy, in Birmingham, U.K. Matthews was previously the GfK head of innovation.
Research company earnings/financial news
London health and consumer marketing group Cello reported an increase of 6.4 percent in 2014 revenues, resulting in £169.9 million in revenue. This is a 9.9 percent increase in headline operating profit before tax to £81.0 million. The company also appointed Stephen Highley as chief operating officer. He has served as Cello Health chairman since 2011.
Study Hall Research, Tampa, Fla., reported Q1 2015 results with revenues for the quarter up 59 percent from the same period a year ago. Contracted work increased by 25 percent from Q1 2014.
BrainJuicer, London, reported revenue growth of 1 percent to £24.65 million for the 2014 financial year. Pre-tax profits rose 21 percent to £4.29 million. Gross profit was flat in the U.K., its largest market, but grew 11 percent in the U.S., its second largest market. Profit in continental Europe fell 14 percent and the firm has decided to close its office in Italy which had a “significant” loss.
London researcher YouGov reported an 11 percent increase in revenue for the first half of its fiscal year, ending on January 31, 2015, with revenue totaling £36.2 million. Profit before tax was £16,000, compared to losses of £400,000 in the prior year.
London research firm Trinity McQueen increased its sales by 17 percent, reaching £3.98 million, in the financial year ending September 30, 2014. This follows an increase of 39 percent in 2012-13.
Join the Dots, a Manchester, U.K., researcher, reported a growth in annual revenue of 25 percent to £6.1 million in 2014, which surpassed its 23 percent growth in 2013.
San Francisco software firm GlimpzIt has completed a $1.1 million seed funding round. The company’s platform provides customers with pictures and video responses from mobile consumers using smartphones. The platform is currently in a closed beta with more than 20 brands.
Nielsen N.V. announced first-quarter 2015 results and that its board of directors approved an increase in the company’s quarterly cash dividend of 12 percent to $0.28 per common share. Revenues were $1,458 million, down 2.1 percent due to the impact of foreign exchange but up 4.4 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to the first quarter of 2014. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter increased 1.1 percent to $380 million, or 7.3 percent on a constant currency basis compared to the first quarter of 2014. As a percentage of revenues, adjusted EBITDA grew 81 basis points, or 70 basis points on a constant currency basis, due to the accretive impact of investments in coverage and analytics capabilities and the benefit of ongoing productivity initiatives. Income from continuing operations for the first quarter increased by 14.5 percent to $63 million, an increase of 53.7 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to the first quarter of 2014. The increase is driven by lower restructuring charges and the benefit of ongoing productivity initiatives. Income from continuing operations per share on a diluted basis was $0.17 compared to $0.15 in the first quarter of 2014. Adjusted net income for the first quarter increased 4.8 percent to $173 million, or 14.6 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to the first quarter of 2014. Adjusted net income per share on a diluted basis was $0.46 compared to $0.43 in the first quarter of 2014.