News notes
Research companies itracks, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Artafact, Fremont, Calif., have come to mutually-agreeable settlement terms on the patent infringement lawsuit itracks filed against Artafact in 2008. The terms of the settlement are confidential; however, itracks has agreed to license its patent to Artafact in exchange for monetary consideration. As a result, the pending case in the District of Massachusetts will be dismissed.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Washington, D.C., assessed an $800,000 penalty against Spokeo, a Pasadena, Calif., data collector that the FTC said violated federal law by compiling and selling people’s personal information for use by potential employers in screening job applicants, according to a June 13 article in The New York Times. The action is the FTC’s first case addressing the sale of Internet and social media data for use in employment screening.
Spokeo agreed to settle the civil charges without admitting that they were true.
The FTC also charged that Spokeo created fake endorsements of its service and posted those comments on news and technology Web sites and blogs. The FTC said the comments were made up by Spokeo’s own employees.
Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. has filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey District Court Camden Office against media companies McGavren Guild, New York, and Longport Media for illegal use of Arbitron data.
Acquisitions/transactions
Newport Beach, Calif., online solutions comparison company CatchFree has acquired KISSinsights, an Ithaca, N.Y., analytics company.
Redwood Shores, Calif., software company Oracle has agreed to acquire Collective Intellect, a Boulder, Colo., text analytics company. Oracle and Collective Intellect will continue to operate independently.
Austin, Texas, research software company Bazaarvoice has agreed to acquire PowerReviews, a San Francisco social platform.
JRA Research, Nottingham, U.K., has acquired the panel of chefs and catering managers from Premier Foods Foodservice, Hertfordshire, U.K. Surrey, U.K., research company EasyInsites will continue to manage the panel.
London research company BDRC Group has acquired ESA Market Research Ltd., Hertfordshire, U.K.
Los Angeles research firm MarketCast has been acquired by Shamrock Capital Growth Fund III, Los Angeles.
Encino, Calif., research company Bovitz has acquired Resolve Market Research, Los Angeles.
Along with the acquisition, Bovitz has rebranded with a new corporate logo and visual identity system.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation and MasterCard, Purchase, N.Y., have partnered to combine Rentrak’s TV viewing data with MasterCard’s consumer trends and insights derived from payment transactions.
Scarborough Research, New York, and Washington, D.C., data solutions company TargetSmart Communications have partnered to combine TargetSmart’s nationwide voter file with Scarborough’s consumer data into a single dataset.
Research companies TruSignal Partners, San Francisco, and eXelate, New York, have partnered to make TruSignal’s suite of TruAudience High Value Consumer segments publicly available to eXelate’s 75+ integrated media platforms.
Association/organization news
The Polish Association of Public Opinion and Marketing Research Firms, the Lithuanian Market and Social Research Association, the Association of Irish Market Research Organizations and the Bulgarian Association of Marketing and Opinion Researchers have joined the European Federation of Associations of Market Research Organizations, Brussels, Belgium.
The Market Research Society, London, has partnered with London branding consultancy Purpose to rebrand, focusing on the word “Evidence.”
The Mobile Marketing Research Association, Atlanta, has appointed Siamack Salari of Ethos and Everyday Lives as its first president.
Awards/rankings
Stamford, Conn., research company InsightExpress has received a 2012 Connecticut Quality Improvement Award for Innovation for the Ignite Network, the company’s data analytics and research platform. The award recognizes Connecticut companies that excel in managing quality improvement for business success and growth.
Robert Ramirez of Ipsos Healthcare has received the President’s Award from the Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence and Research Group, Morrisville, Pa., for his commitment to delivering and exceeding the market research needs of America’s pharmaceutical companies.
The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, Ontario, Canada, has announced the winners of the 2012 Excellence in Research Awards competition. Sylvestre Marketing and PepsiCo Canada received the Best in Class Award 2011 for the Pepsi Refresh program. Kraft Foods, Fresh Squeezed Ideas, Ipsos and Nielsen also received a Best in Class Award 2011 for the Big, Bold and Brewed to Perfection program. A full list of winners is online at www.mria-arim.ca/awards/excelawards05.asp.
Norwalk, Conn., technology community Technology Marketing Corporation has named Oslo, Norway, research software company Confirmit a recipient of a Customer Interaction Solutions 2012 CRM Excellence Award for its Confirmit Horizons platform.
New accounts/projects
JTN Research, Sofia, Bulgaria, has migrated its panel business to Oslo, Norway, research software company Confirmit’s Horizons platform.
Samsung, Seoul, South Korea, has adopted Mountain View, Calif., research company Ace Metrix's Ace Metrix Live platform as its method for attaining real-time creative effectiveness measures.
Best Buy Co. Inc., Richfield, Minn., has selected the consumer tracking service of Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group as its data of record for market sizing, share measurement and demographic assessment of the consumer electronics, information technology and mobile phone industries.
Starcom MediaVest Group, New York, has adopted USA TouchPoints from the Media Behavior Institute, New York, as its consumer insights and cross-platform media measurement tool.
Visible Technologies, a Bellevue, Wash., research company, has been selected by London communications group WPP as its preferred social listening and analytics platform for its operating companies in North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Los Angeles research company MarketShare has added New Brunswick, N.J., research company Keller Fay’s offline word-of-mouth (WOM) data streams into MarketShare’s analytics engine.
Additionally, GfK MRI, a New York research company, has also added Keller Fay’s WOM data streams to its TalkTrack/GfK MRI Data Fusion offering.
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation has partnered with China research company Sinomonitor to launch Sinotrak in Beijing to measure all forms of video screens from digital devices in China.
San Mateo, Calif., research company Epocrates Inc. has joined The Trust Alliance, a London not-for-profit organization intended to advance health care data collection standards; develop and promote best practices; and foster trust in online physician research.
Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical has named Mumbai, India, research company Majestic MRSS an official certified partner, giving Majestic access to Vision Critical’s suite of tools.
Opinions For Good Inc., a Portsmouth, N.H., research company, has adopted Westport, Conn., research company Imperium's Verity and RelevantID digital fingerprinting technology for fraud prevention.
New York research company UniversalSurvey and its SurveyHealthCare and OpinionSite divisions have adopted Austin, Texas, research company Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC's survey and panel management software platform.
Time Warner Cable, New York, has selected research companies EasyInsites, Surrey, U.K., and DB5, San Marino, Calif., to build its U.S. customer advisory panel of 10,000 panelists.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
U.K. research company SPA Future Thinking has entered into a joint venture with Paris research company Groupe Acticall to launch Future Thinking France. Stéphane Marder will lead the operation.
London research company TNS opened an office in Cambodia.
New York research company Ipsos Interactive Services has opened an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rotterdam, Netherlands, research company SKIM has opened an office San Francisco.
Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group has integrated its global brand and consumer experience practice. Helen Zeitoun will lead the operation.
Research company earnings/financial news
Focus Pointe Global, Philadelphia, has received a capital infusion from MVC Private Equity Fund L.P. Terms of the financing were not disclosed.