News notes
In November 2011, Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. filed suit against Magic Broadcasting, Dothan, Ala., for breach of contract, claiming that Magic Broadcasting continued use of Arbitron’s copyrighted reports after the expiration of a subscription agreement. Arbitron claims that Magic has not been a subscriber since March 31, 2010. A pre-trial conference is set for later this month.
Ann Arbor, Mich., research company ForeSee Results has reached an omnibus litigation settlement with Marshall, Texas, patent licensing company Lodsys. Lodsys had claimed ForeSee’s online survey software infringed its patents. ForeSee initiated a declaratory lawsuit in June 2011, alleging that Lodsys threatened ForeSee clients.
In December 2011, New York researcher The Nielsen Company and Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. settled their patent disputes by entering into a cross-licensing agreement. Subject to retained rights by Nielsen, comScore will acquire ownership of the four Nielsen families of patents asserted in litigation. ComScore also grants Nielsen worldwide licenses for the families of the four patents comScore asserted in litigation. Both parties agree not to bring any patent action against the other for the next three years. In addition, Nielsen has acquired approximately $19 million in comScore restricted common stock with neutral voting requirements, which Nielsen has agreed to hold for a period of one year minimum.
In November 2011, Polaris Marketing Research Inc., Atlanta, reported that it had been victimized by a widespread mail scam. A company falsely claiming to be Polaris Marketing Research has been trying to recruit mystery shoppers by sending consumers a check for nearly $2,000 as an enticement. Consumers receiving this offering in the mail should not respond, according to the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Waltham, Mass., research company Affinnova Inc. has announced plans to hire up to 70 new staff members in 2012.
Acquisitions/transactions
Dublin, Ireland, research company Experian has acquired U.K. Web monitoring firm Garlik Limited. The acquisition is intended to extend Experian’s presence in identity protection.
Fort Worth, Texas, investment firm TPG Growth and Palo Alto, Calif., research software company SurveyMonkey have agreed to acquire San Francisco research company MarketTools Inc. TPG will acquire MarketTools and transfer the Zoomerang, ZoomPanel and TrueSample businesses to SurveyMonkey in exchange for a minority stake in SurveyMonkey. TPG will separately retain and expand the research solutions and CustomerSat businesses.
Herndon, Va., research company Vovici has been acquired by Melville, N.Y., software company Verint. Vovici has added Verint’s Impact 360 Text Analytics to its enterprise feedback management solution.
Leger Marketing, a Montreal research company, has acquired Zurich, Switzerland, research company Isopublic and its subsidiary Gallup Switzerland.
The GfK Group, a Nuremberg, Germany, research company, has acquired Menlo Park, Calif., research company Knowledge Networks Inc.
Paris research company Ipsos has acquired Consumer Behavior & Insight (CBI) in Vietnam. CBI will combine with Synovate Vietnam to become Ipsos Vietnam. CBI Founder Nguyen Minh Tan has been named managing director of the operation.
Edison, N.J., research company Schlesinger Associates has acquired German research company Schmiedl Marktforschung GmbH. Schmiedl has locations in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, which will continue to be overseen by Schmiedl’s managing directors.
Research company Tealeaf has acquired research company Overstat Inc. Both companies are based in San Francisco.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Paris research company Ipsos has made a strategic investment in AdMaster, making it an exclusive partner of Ipsos when providing online advertising research technology in China and other Asia-Pacific countries.
Research companies Synovate Retail Performance, Milton Keynes, U.K., and Track & Trace AS, Norway, have partnered to combine Synovate’s insight into shopper behavior and the customer experience with Track & Trace’s solutions for measuring customer flow and shopping behavior.
Research companies BDRC Group, London, and Jones Donald Strategy Partners, Sydney, Australia, have formed an equity-based alliance to formalize their relationship for sharing ideas and resources.
Stockholm, Sweden, research technology company Tobii Technology has partnered with Harrison, N.Y., research company Friedman Consumer Opinion Centers to combine Tobii insights and Friedman data collection services. Under the agreement, Tobii will support Friedman in each of the research agency’s 16 Consumer Opinion Centers across the U.S.
Awards/rankings
Encino, Calif., research company uSamp has been ranked 11th among the top-100 privately-held companies on Forbes Magazine’s list of America’s Most Promising Companies.
New accounts/projects
Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group has selected Portland, Ore., research company Revelation Inc. as its technology provider for GfK SocioLog.dx, GfK’s online qualitative research solution.
Additionally, GfK has signed a global agreement with Dapresy, a Norrkoping, Sweden, research software company, making Dapresy Pro GfK’s recommended solution for online reporting throughout the company.
Finally, GfK has been awarded six new contracts in Central and Eastern Europe, delivering audience measurement data for a range of media in Romania, the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Aegis Media North America, New York, has adopted Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation’s TV Essentials and Exact Commercial Ratings data.
MarketView Research, Edgewater, N.J., has selected Cambridge, Mass., research company iMotions' Attention Tool as its eye-tracking software platform.
Stamford, Conn., research company InsightExpress has been selected by Chicago communications company VivaKi as its research partner. InsightExpress will measure advertising effectiveness on tablet devices as part of the most recent wave of The Pool, VivaKi’s consumer-driven advertising research program.
VideoHub, a New York advertising solutions company, and New York researcher The Nielsen Company have partnered to offer VideoHub customers access to Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings gross rating points (GRPs) via VideoHub for Advertisers. The relationship marks the first time Nielsen has integrated its GRP data with an online video advertising platform.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Copenhagen, Denmark, research company Adform has opened an office in Madrid, Spain. Miguel Fernandez-Gil Martin will lead the operation as manager, business development.
Digital marketing specialist Steve Pritchard has opened threeten10, a social media tracking agency in Leeds, U.K. The company is online at www.threeten10.com.
Paris research company Ipsos has opened a research agency in Pakistan, managed by Abdul Sattar Babar.
New York research company Market Probe International has moved its corporate headquarters. Phone, fax and e-mail addresses will remain the same.
Horsham, Pa., research company Marketing Systems Group has relocated its corporate offices to 755 Business Center Dr., Suite 200, Horsham, Pa.
G & S Research, Indianapolis, has relocated to new headquarters in The Precedent Business Park in Indianapolis.
Insight Research Group, New York, has rebranded as Insight Strategy Group. The firm is online at www.insightstrategygroup.com.
Research company earnings/financial news
London media company WPP has made an investment in London mobile software company Lumi Technologies Limited, taking a minority equity stake in the business.
San Francisco social media analytics company awe.sm has announced a $4 million Series A financing round led by Foundry Group, Boulder, Colo., and GRP Partners, Los Angeles.