Site offers translated reports on Asian opinion polls
The Mansfield Foundation, Washington, D.C., has launched its Asian Opinion Poll Database, which features English-language articles on policy-oriented public opinion surveys conducted by major Asian news and polling agencies. The Foundation has translated and posted on its Web site (www.mansfieldfdn.org) the results of surveys that focus on issues such as: public attitudes toward the United States, the U.S.-Japan alliance and other nations in Northeast Asia; perceptions of China’s rising power and potential North Korean threat; regional economic competition; domestic political trends; and support for national governments and administrations.
The Asian Opinion Poll Database currently features surveys conducted by the Nikkei Shimbun (Japan), Cabinet Office (Japan), Joong-Ang Ilbo (South Korea), and Dong-A Ilbo (South Korea). The Foundation plans to expand this list of participating media and polling agencies, to include a broad cross-section of organizations in Japan and South Korea as well as the People’s Republic of China. Over time, the surveys will be archived and commentary and analysis from prominent Asia experts will be added.
ArcSDE updated
Redlands, Calif.-based ESRI announced that with the release of the ArcSDE 9.1 Service Pack 1 its ArcSDE now supports Microsoft SQL Server 2005. ArcSDE is a server software product that accesses multi-user geographic databases stored in relational database management systems (RDBMSs). ArcSDE enables users to: integrate geographic information query, mapping, spatial analysis and editing within a multi-user enterprise DBMS; move from a distributed approach to an integrated environment; manage spatial data as a continuous database accessible to the entire organization; and publish maps on the Web. ArcSDE 9.1 Service Pack 1 also includes performance improvements and maintenance fixes. It is available for download at http://support.esri.com/downloads .
New panels, new countries from Greenfield
Wilton, Conn.-based research firm Greenfield Online Inc. and its European subsidiary Ciao are now offering new proprietary online research panels across certain countries in Europe, Latin America and Australia. Combined, these proprietary panels offer clients access to more than 200,000 new potential respondents globally. The new panels include more than 85,000 panelists across European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Portugal; a new Latin American panel with more than 50,000 respondents across Mexico and Brazil; and a new Australian panel with more than 70,000 respondents. For more information visit www.greenfieldonline.com or www.ciao-surveys.com .
Targeting system for newspapers
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Simmons has launched Circulation Tactician, a household-based targeting system that allows newspaper circulation managers to find potential subscribers in their market that have the same behavioral characteristics as their best current-circulation customers. Circulation Tactician merges a newspaper’s existing circulation data with Experian’s INSOURCE database of U.S. households and delivers it on Simmons software including Microsoft’s MapPoint.
Newsrooms can also use Circulation Tactician to understand their readers and select editorial content for their zoned inserts because it has lifestyle and media consumption down to the zone level of interest. Newspapers can work with advertisers to select the most appropriate and most effective advertisements for their sections. For more information contact Mark Fauntleroy at 954-427-4104, ext. 160 or visit www.smrb.com .
Factiva beta tests Search 2.0
New York-based Factiva has introduced Factiva Search 2.0, which searches across Factiva’s more than 9,000 sources. It delivers results organized by subjects, companies, industries and associated themes and presented in a graphical format for interactive navigation. Additionally, the discovery functionality identifies trends and themes around search topics and terms. At press time, Factiva Search 2.0 was in a beta version. The initial beta introduction includes results ranked by relevancy that can also be sorted by date in an alternative view. It provides contextual snippets where search results include the first occurrence of the terms so that users can quickly determine if an article is relevant. Additionally, recommendations are offered for company names and correct spellings. Searches that are recognized to include public companies will automatically surface stock quote information above the headlines. During the Factiva Search 2.0 beta period, Factiva will gather customer feedback to help clarify how to incorporate these capabilities into Factiva’s existing products and services. For more information visit www.factiva.com .
New service measures Yellow Pages markets
Yellow Pages Market Reporter - a new Yellow Pages market measurement service from Knowledge Networks/SRI (KN/SRI) - will deliver specific directory usage data for 125 geographies covering 161 DDAs (directory distribution areas). In total, KN/SRI conducted about 75,000 in-depth consumer interviews to produce these 2005 YPMR findings.
Yellow Pages Market Reporter is the result of a process which began when advertisers, ad agencies and certified marketing representatives made a request for independent, third-party syndicated research to aid Yellow Pages advertisers in selecting directories in which to place ads. The rapid growth of multi-directory markets renders this information a necessity for making accurate ad buying decisions, and  publishers have responded by funding measures in many DDAs.
Ten publishers participated in the 2005 program: Ambassador Yellow Pages; Associated Publishing Co.; AT&T Yellow Pages; BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Corp.; Cincinnati Bell Yellow Pages; Dex Media, Inc.; RH Donnelley Publishing and Advertising; Verizon Information Services; White Directory Publishers, Inc.; and Yellow Book USA, Inc. The 2005 publisher-funded DDAs collectively represent 30 percent of the total U.S. adult population and encompass almost half (45 percent) of consumers located in A and B county areas. For more information visit www.knowledgenetworks.com .
2005 census estimates now available
Demographic Data Center is now offering its 2005 Estimates, 2010 Projections, Consumer Expenditures and Profiles online. The 2005 Estimates fill in the gap for the five years since the 2000 Census. In addition, the latest consumer expenditures and demographic profiles help businesses that need to know where to market, where to expand and how to allocate resources.
2005 Estimates are based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s county estimates and the 2000 long form. It is modeled to the various geographies based on calculations reflecting the expected changes since the 2000 Census. 2010 Projections are the same format as the Estimates, but projected out an additional five years to 2010.
Consumer Expenditures for 2005 include 50+ categories of household spending including topics such as food, small appliances, health insurance and clothing.
Profiles allow users to target areas that meet their desired customer or client profile. Users determine which area most captures that profile’s essence, or which profile best describes a particular area. The data is available in five geographies: states, counties, tracts, block groups, and zip codes. Users can also run a radius around a latitude/longitude point. For more information visit www.us-census.biz/estimates/estimates.htm or call 800-577-6717.
New e-commerce suite from WebSurveyor
WebSurveyor Corporation, Herndon, Va., is now offering its new E-Commerce Solution Pack, which provides a set of integrated products and services to help Internet retailers understand the thinking and motivation of site visitors and online shoppers. Using WebSurveyor’s online survey platform, the E-Commerce Solution Pack consists of online data collection instruments designed to gather site visitor demographics, examine shopping cart abandonment and understand keyword instrumentation. For more information visit www.websurveyor.com .
Briefly
Stamford, Conn.-based FocusVision Worldwide has added three firms to the global network of focus group facilities offering its videoconferencing services - Cook Research in Minneapolis, Opinions Unlimited in Dallas and SIS in New York - bringing the number of facilities to 316.
Stamford, Conn.-based research firm InsightExpress has launched a new corporate Web site at www.insightexpress.com .
Norway-based research software provider FIRM is now offering its Contact Center Quality Application, which enables businesses with contact center operations to implement customer-experience quality measures to discover, manage and act on customer dissatisfaction. The application is built on FIRM’s Confirmit survey and reporting software platform. For more information visit www.confirmit.com .
The Keller Fay Group, a research consultancy dedicated to word-of-mouth marketing campaigns, is now offering TalkTrack, a measurement system for word-of-mouth marketing. TalkTrack measures marketing-relevant conversations in the U.S., enabling clients to track word-of-mouth trends, evaluate ongoing campaigns and identify segments and opportunities for potential engagement with consumers. For more information visit www.kellerfay.com .