ComScore launches Ad Metrix in Canada

Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has introduced Ad Metrix in Canada, a service for digital me-dia campaigning designed to evaluate where display ads are viewed online and the demographic composition of the audiences reached. The service is designed to capture multiple varieties of display advertising, including static banners, rich media and video ads.

Ad Metrix also includes: Ad Metrix Publisher, to provide insight into where marketers are spending their ad dollars online and what share of the market each publisher captures; Ad Metrix Advertiser, to provide information at the advertiser and product level regarding which publisher sites and creative advertisers are using; and Ad Metrix Demographics, to explore the demographics of Internet users exposed to advertising, providing person-level intelligence on the placement and reach of ads. For more information visit www.comscore.com.

Polaris introduces two Web products

Polaris Marketing Research, Atlanta, has debuted a four-part white paper series, titled “Designing and Implementing a Customer Satisfaction Tracking Program.” The series includes the following topics: why measure customer satisfaction; gap analysis; what needs to be measured; and guidelines for structuring and rollout.

Additionally, Polaris has launched The Marketing Dialog, its semimonthly blog discussion with executives, educators and opinion leaders in marketing regarding how they have used marketing research to make decisions. Twice a month, Polaris will share the thoughts and experiences of the marketing professionals involved and invite marketers to participate with their own ideas and comments. For more information visit www.polarismr.com/contact.html.

Zoomerang debuts centralized survey management tool

Zoomerang, a division of San Francisco research company MarketTools Inc., has introduced Zoomerang Enterprise for online survey management. Enterprise is designed to allow survey managers to collaborate and share information using a survey questionnaire and results library, management dashboard, search capability and more. Access to survey collaboration is based on a centralized work area for employees in different departments to see if someone from another team has already created a survey similar to the one they want to write, giving them the opportunity to use the existing survey template. Zoomerang Enterprise is included at no additional cost with Zoomerang’s premium subscription. For more information visit www.zoomerang.com.

Research Now gains Momentum for mobile surveys

Research Now, London, has released Momentum, its new family of mobile survey products designed to offer quick polls using SMS; online surveys using WAP, GPRS and 3G connections; and survey application downloads to mobile phones. Momentum also includes a mobile application survey engine, where respondents download an application to take surveys, insuring a consistent look and feel and routing/validation. Momentum has been launched in Research Now’s U.K. panel, and the worldwide Valued Opinions family of panels will follow. By the end of the launch, Momentum is set to include 36 countries. For more information visit www.researchnow.co.uk.

Compete measures how ads make an impact

Compete, a Boston research company, has introduced Ad Impact, an offering designed to measure how ex-posure to online advertising affects consumers’ online behavior, specifically search queries and interaction with brand, competitor and third-party sites. Ad Impact is intended to complement survey-based branding studies and enable publishers to prove their value to clients by helping advertisers measure the impact of their campaigns. Ad Impact draws from Compete’s online panel of U.S. consumers and provides behavior-based metrics in three categories: site impact (branded site and microsite visitation); search and ecosystem impact (search phrases, social media, rival site and third-party site visitation); and campaign profile information (demographic, impression and frequency reporting). Clients can request additional customized metrics and use the information from Ad Impact as inputs into cross-media measurement.

Ad Impact also delivers analytical reports that aim to allow clients to measure the impact of advertising on relevant consumer behaviors; assess performance versus control groups and other segments to understand the benefit of reaching specific audiences; benchmark against other campaigns and against competing pub-lishers; gain a more complete view of advertising ROI; and establish publisher-advertiser trust through ac-countability and transparency. For more information visit www.competeinc.com.

SPSS updates software suite

Chicago research company SPSS Inc. has launched PASW Statistics 18 (formerly SPSS Statistics), an en-hanced version of its statistics software suite. PASW Statistics 18 is intended to support the analytic process - preparing data, running analysis and creating and delivering reports. The latest version includes new analysis and reporting capabilities that aim to improve results and offers expanded ability for users to create their own analytical functionality using open source (R and Python) programming languages.
Additional features include: PASW direct marketing to perform analyses for planning and carrying out marketing campaigns; automated data preparation; PASW Bootstrapping to estimate the sampling distribution by resampling with replacement from the original sample; nonparametric testing to make multiple comparisons within non-normal data; Interactive Model Viewer to explore and compare results and determine the best algorithm for a particular data set; and increased accessibility to open source. For more information visit www.spss.com.

Mosaic UK gets restored

Dublin, Ireland, research company Experian’s consumer classification, Mosaic UK, has been updated to re-flect demographic and social changes that have occurred in contemporary British society since 2003. The classification has been rebuilt to include additional data sources to encompass a more detailed understanding of the aging population, recent changes in household composition, the growth in ethnic diversity and the impact of the Internet in society. Mosaic UK 2009 is designed to draw on over 440 separate pieces of compliant public and proprietary sourced information for the U.K.’s 48 million adults - a total of 21 billion individual data items - to create a detailed picture of modern British society. Following the rebuild, the classification incorporates 15 lifestyle groups, 67 lifestyle types and 141 person types. Mosaic UK will be updated every six months. For more information visit www.experianplc.com.

Online tool aims to reform dial testing

Harvest Research Center, Des Moines, Iowa, has launched an alternative to traditional dial testing. Vibetrak, an online perception analysis system, is intended to reveal what consumers like or dislike about a video, commercial or other stimulus, and what motivates their interest or behavior. Vibetrak was developed to ease the process of dial testing, making the survey available to a wider sample of people via the Web. Its online platform allows for clients to receive instant feedback and observe what areas, words, phrases or pictures optimize a concept and what elements need modification. Vibetrack is designed to work in a Web browser from any location. For more information visit www.harvestresearchcenter.com.

New tool measure consumer magazine ad effectiveness

Mediamark Research and Intelligence (MRI), New York, has debuted AdMeasure, its ad ratings software for major consumer magazines. By providing reliable advertising audience estimates, AdMeasure aims to better gauge the effectiveness of magazine advertising campaigns and elevate magazine audience measurement granularity to the level of TV and the Internet.

AdMeasure’s print ad ratings are derived using the following: MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, used for measuring the average issue audience of consumer magazines; the Issue Specific Readership Study, which measures readership for individual issues of magazines; and MRI Starch, a tool for ad readership research.

AdMeasure is designed to provide audience levels for all national ads one-third of a page or larger that appear in consumer magazine issues measured by MRI Starch. Metrics will include the number of readers who saw, read and took action to a given ad. For more information visit www.mediamark.com.

Nielsen increases panel size tenfold

New York researcher The Nielsen Company has launched an advanced panel and platform for measuring Internet audiences, taking Nielsen’s measurement of Web sites from 3,000 to more than 30,000. The panel is intended to provide better representation of Hispanics, teens and cell phone-only households; and improve coverage of multiple personal computers in households.

The platform uses panel calibration techniques, including the use of Nielsen’s TV/Internet convergence panel, providing more coverage of hard-to-measure Internet users. Nielsen’s underlying methodology for the panel is in use in eight international markets. For more information visit www.nielsen-online.com.

Itracks creates a virtual “home” for online moderators

Itracks, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, research company, has launched the Itracks Online Moderator Com-munity, a global initiative to support moderators as they move into the online market research world. The community’s mission is to provide a place for online moderators to learn, discuss and generate ideas about online qualitative research. Moderators will receive their own account and training, receive 24/7 support and become a part of Itracks’ RFQ process. It is open to moderators from all industries. The Web address for the online moderator community is http://moderator.itracks.com. For more information visit www.itracks.com.

Language Logic updates text categorization tool

Language Logic, a Cincinnati research company, has released version 6.1 of Ascribe, the company’s multi-lingual verbatim and text categorization software platform. With Version 6.1, Ascribe offers integration of Language Logic’s automated coding model, which is designed to allow non-technical staff to create sophisticated automated coding models for the categorization of textual comments including blogs, tweets, e-mails and survey responses in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.

Version 6.1 also includes productivity enhancements, Web and desktop versions, and simplified integra-tion with other research software platforms. Ascribe is offered as software-as-a-service and is free to try. For more information visit www.languagelogic.info.

Mobile research software updated

Techneos, a Vancouver, B.C., research company, has launched Entryware 6.4, an updated edition of its mo-bile survey software. Entryware 6.4 is designed for compatibility with Windows Mobile devices and offers enhanced capabilities for mobile research, face-to-face interviewing and diary studies using a wide range of mobile devices.

Highlights of the upgrade include: improved look and feel for all handheld surveys; photo capture on Win-dows Mobile devices; five-way navigation for quicker and easier movement through a questionnaire; and an optional diary engine, which enables research managers to lock down Windows Mobile devices so that other applications cannot be accessed by mobile users. For more information visit www.techneos.com.

Briefly

Maktoob Research, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has launched The Middle East Shopping Trends syndicated study to gather opinions of adult shoppers of various nationalities across Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The study will explore the psychographics of shoppers, shopping behavior and habits, perception of shoppers with regards to brand visibility and brand personality, satisfaction levels with shopping venues, influences on choice of brands and shopping venues, shopping trends and more. For more information visit www.maktoob-research.com.

SurveyHealthCare, New York, has developed a managed care database, which includes health care pro-fessionals from managed care facilities, hospitals and insurance companies who indicated that their responsibilities included at least one of the following: making formulary decisions, developing medication protocol, developing pharmacy programs, or maintaining pharmacy administration/cost controls. For more information visit www.surveyhealthcare.com.

Los Angeles research company OTX has integrated the simulated moderator software Socrates into its AdCEP product, a pre-testing product that aims to measure how emotion, message and context impact the performance of advertising. The integration allows Socrates language recognition software to conduct in-teractive one-on-one interviews with consumers who take OTX’s quantitative online surveys. Respondents will interact with Socrates using an interface similar to an instant messaging box capable of carrying on a full conversational interview. For more information visit www.otxresearch.com.

Maponics, a Norwich, Vt., mapping company, has launched its full suite of zip code map data products. Updated datasets include five-digit zip code boundaries, zip+4 data, postal carrier route boundaries, neighborhood-to-zip code correspondence and custom postal datasets, including zip+2 boundaries. Maponics’ offering is designed to integrate easily with ESRI, MapInfo and Web-based applications. Data can be delivered in several file formats or on a transactional basis via the Maponics Spatial API. For more information visit www.maponics.com.

Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group, has increased the size of its German panel from 20,000 to 30,000 households. The company has also expanded its single-source approach from 7,000 to 15,000 households. For more information visit www.gfk.com.

R.L. Repass and Partners, a Cincinnati research company, and McMillion Research, Charleston, W.Va., have partnered to launch a joint venture online omnibus survey. The omnibus, dubbed MindField Poll, will be conducted quarterly and include a nationally-representative sample of 800 respondents. Depending on the nature of the question and the analysis required, the cost ranges from $500 to $1,000 per question. For more information visit www.repasspartners.com.

20/20 Research Inc., Nashville, Tenn., has introduced QualJournal, a blogging engine built for online journaling and immersive research. The software is designed to provide researchers and their study par-ticipants with a safe and private virtual venue for conducting in-depth qualitative research. Similar to popular blogging sites, QualJournal also provides the researcher with a management console to monitor and communicate with all participants, as well as a button for downloading transcripts. For more information visit www.2020research.com.

Survey Sampling International (SSI), Shelton, Conn., has expanded its research capabilities in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. SSI has also launched mobile and landline samples in Mexico, and landline sample in Brazil. For more information visit www.surveysampling.com.

TVG, a Dresher, Pa., research company, has created a marketing analytics team to offer integration of primary and secondary research where data from multiple sources is layered with primary quantitative and qualitative research and outsourced, on-demand services. For more information visit www.tvg-inc.com.

Vision Critical, a Vancouver, B.C., research company, has released Eclipse, its online full-service community panel offering for the consumer packaged-goods industry. Eclipse is designed to provide the latest techniques for gaining deeper consumer insights while maximizing cost, timing and research design efficiencies. Built upon Vision Critical’s community panel technology Sparq, Eclipse aims to extend proprietary panels by offering virtual shopping and analytics typically only available in custom research engagements. For more information visit www.visioncritical.com/eclipse.

Decipher, a Fresno, Calif., research company, has introduced Video Analyzer, a tool aimed to give clients who utilize dial testing the ability to view survey results in an interactive reporting environment. Using Video Analyzer, dial testing users have the option to customize reporting by a single question, or any combination of questions, asked during a survey. They also have the ability to run survey reporting parallel to the test media in an interactive overlay environment. For more information visit www.decipherinc.com.

Anderson Analytics, a New York research company, has launched AA-Social Media, an offering intended to enhance community building, widgets/application development, strategic/tactical social media consulting, social media research and SNS marketing. For more information visit www.andersonanalytics.com.

Prompt Research Insights, Bryanston, South Africa, has introduced ADGist, an eye-tracking tool for measuring print and billboard ad effectiveness at a glance. For more information visit www.prinsights.co.za.

The U.K. division of Chicago research company Information Resources Inc. (IRI) has released Liquid Modelling, an analytics solution designed to provide granular data collection and analysis for manufacturers and retailers. Data collection algorithms and the underlying architecture have been restructured to allow data to flow more quickly from EPOS devices in-store to IRI databases and analytics systems. IRI Liquid Modelling is packaged as a managed service with an IRI expert assigned to answer questions. For more information visit www.infores.co.uk.

MarketTools Inc., a San Francisco research company, has introduced ZoomPanel Tech, a panel of information technology professionals. ZoomPanel Tech uses TrueSample validation technology. Participants are pre-profiled on more than 100 business-to-business-specific attributes and another 30+ IT-specific areas of expertise. For more information visit www.markettools.com/zoompaneltech.

Copenhagen, Denmark, research company iMotions has updated its Emotion Tool software to be compatible with the SMI iView X RED remote eye tracker with the goal of providing a solution for marketing pre-testing scenarios. For more information visit www.imotionsglobal.com.

Invoke Solutions, a Waltham, Mass., research company, has released Engage Analytics II in an effort to lower costs for market researchers. Engage Analytics is designed to allow firms to outsource tasks with non-integrated solutions that have added time, cost and effort to the delivery of projects to end clients. For more information visit www.invoke.com.

TRC Market Research, Philadelphia, has updated its Web site to provide users with free access to 35 market research white papers and published articles. For more information visit www.trchome.com.

Aggregate Knowledge, a San Mateo, Calif., research company, has released its Audience Discovery Engine, designed to find and validate audiences, optimize impressions and uncover audience insights. On every ad impression, the ad viewer is mapped against proprietary and third-party data providers. The Audience Discovery Engine works on top of any existing media buy and optimizes inventory from publishers, ad networks and ad exchanges. The Audience Discovery Engine is available in three offerings: Audience Insights, Audience Validation and Audience Optimization. For more information visit www.aggregateknowledge.com.

Visible Technologies, a Bellevue, Wash., research company, has updated its TruCast platform for social media researchers and marketers. TruCast 2.8 is designed to allow marketers to monitor, measure and participate in social conversations with one interface. Marketers can listen in on online consumer conversations and add their input or correct misconceptions about their brand. The TruCast platform also sends clients information about what is said about a brand or product. For more information visit www.visibletechnologies.com.

Webtrends, a Portland, Ore., research company, has introduced Webtrends Analytics 9, a data interface that aims to uncover customer trends and cross-channel insight from RSS-enabled overlays of company news, sales and other business data on top of trended Web metrics. Key Web metrics are automatically translated to plain English text, shared throughout an organization and viewed in any interface. Current Webtrends On Demand customers have access to Analytics 9 at http://insight.webtrends.com. For more information visit www.webtrends.com.

Cambridge, Mass., research company MarketSight has launched version 7.7 of its line of data analysis tools. Version 7.7 includes new charting capabilities, greater flexibility in the design of crosstabs and improvements in workflow automation. MarketSight 7.7 is a software-as-a-service-based solution. For more information visit www.marketsight.com.

(Editor’s note: The following are corrected versions of two entries from the August issue.) Digital Research Inc., Kennebunk, Maine, has introduced its Waggle service, a private, social networking community platform designed to listen to consumers and anticipate trends without asking questions. For more information visit www.driwaggle.com.

Denver research company iModerate has introduced a revised version of Optimum!nsight, an instant message-based, in-depth qualitative solution designed to provide maximum flexibility and customization of consumer insights. Optimum!nsight utilizes iModerate’s live, moderated, online one-on-one interview ses-sions to deliver the results to the client in a flexible manner. The solution has no set number of participants, time limit or geographic boundaries. For more information visit www.imoderate.com.