Comscore Explained

Comscore, Inc.
Type:Public
Foundation:[1]
Location:Reston, Virginia, U.S.
Num Employees:1,355 (January 2022)
Revenue: (2021)
Operating Income: (2021)
Net Income: (2021)
Assets: (2021)
Equity: (2021)
Subsid:Rentrak
Industry:Analytics
Footnotes:[2]

Comscore, Inc. is an American-based global media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, advertising agencies, brand marketers, and publishers.

History

Comscore was founded in July 1999 in Reston, Virginia.[3] The company was co-founded by Gian Fulgoni, who was for many years the CEO of market research company Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) and Magid Abraham, who was also an ex-IRI employee and had was president in the mid-1990s.

On March 30, 2007, Comscore made an initial public offering of shares on the Nasdaq, using the symbol "SCOR".[4]

On February 11, 2014, Comscore announced the appointment of Serge Matta as chief executive officer, effective March 1.[5]

Co-founder Gian Fulgoni, who had been chairman emeritus since 2014, replaced Serge Matta as chief executive officer on August 10, 2016.[6] On September 2, 2016, Comscore received a letter from NASDAQ that it was in danger of being delisted from the exchange on September 12 unless Comscore filed its 2015 annual report (form 10-K) and reports for the first two quarters of 2016.[7] On February 6, 2017, Comscore announced they would not meet the NASDAQ-imposed deadline to "complete its financial restatement and regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing requirements."[8] Because of this missed deadline, "Comscore's common stock may be suspended from trading and delisted from Nasdaq." If Comscore is delisted from NASDAQ and their trading is suspended, they advise they intend to "be quoted on the OTC Markets." In November 2017, According to the reports, Gian Fulgoni co-founder and CEO retired.[9]

On April 23, 2018, it was announced that Bryan Wiener was appointed as the company's chief executive officer, effective May 30.[10] Wiener had previously been chairman of 360i, a 1,000-person advertising agency known for its ability to help brands capitalize on change through innovation and a data-driven approach to marketing.[11] In October 2018, the company revised its branding, updating its logo and changing its name stylization from "comScore" to "comscore", although it continued to use "Comscore" as well.[12]

On April 1, 2019, CEO Bryan Wiener announced that he, along with president Sarah Hofstetter would be stepping down from their respective roles at Comscore, citing irreconcilable differences in strategy with the company's board.[13]

On November 5, 2019, Bill Livek was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice Chairman. Prior to joining Comscore, Livek was Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Rentrak, where he spearheaded the next generation of products to precisely measure movies and TV. In February 2022, Livek announced he was going to retire and step down as CEO once the board found a replacement.[14]

Mergers and acquisitions

Comscore acquired Media Metrix in a deal announced in June 2002. Earlier, the Federal Trade Commission announced it would block a bid by NetRatings to acquire Media Metrix.

Media Metrix originated as PC Meter, a business unit of market research company NPD Group, and began publishing statistics in January 1996.[15] In July 1997, it changed its name to Media Metrix.[16] In October 1998, Media Metrix merged with a rival, Relevant Knowledge.[17] The company went public as NASDAQ:MMXI in May 1999, reaching a market cap of $135 million on its first day of trading.[18] In June 2000, the company acquired Jupiter Communications for $414 million in stock and changed its name to Jupiter Media Metrix.[19] In the aftermath of the dot-com bubble collapse and associated downturn in internet marketing spending, Jupiter sold the Media Metrix service to rival Comscore for $1.5 million in June 2002.[20]

In May 2008, Comscore announced its acquisition of M:Metrics, a company that measured mobile content consumption. The transaction involved a cash payment of $44.3 million and the issue of approximately 50,000 options to purchase shares of Comscore common stock to some M:Metrics unvested option holders.[21]

Comscore announced in October 2009 the acquisition of Certifica, an internet marketing company based in Santiago, Chile. The acquisition enhanced Comscore’s presence in the Latin American market.[22]

In February 2010, Comscore announced an agreement to purchase the ARSgroup, headquartered in Evansville, Indiana.[23]

On July 1, 2010, Comscore announced that it had acquired the products division of Nexius, Inc.[24]

Comscore then acquired for approximately $36.7 million on September 1, 2010.[25]

In February 2015 Comscore US entered into a partnership with Kantar owned by WPP with an equity stake purchase.

On May 5, 2015 Comscore announced that it had acquired Proximic, a California based analytics company.[26] Several years later in March, 2023 Comscore announced a rebrand of their programmatic targeting business under the name Proximic by Comscore, utilizing the capabilities from the May 2015 Proximic acquisition.[27]

In September 2015, Comscore and Rentrak announced a merger of the two companies. The move was meant to combine Comscore's digital media measurement capabilities with the TV measurement capabilities of Rentrak to create a cross-platform media measurement firm, perhaps capable of challenging Nielsen N.V. in the media measurement space.[28] Under terms of the agreement, Comscore agreed to acquire Rentrak in an all-stock deal valued at about $732 million, with Rentrak shareholders receiving 1.15 shares of Comscore per owned share of Rentrak.[29]

The Comscore-Rentrak deal closed on February 1, 2016, with the final transaction being valued at $767.7 million.[30]

In December 2021, Comscore acquired Shareablee, a social media marketing analytics and measurement company.[31]

Data collection and reporting

Comscore maintains a group of users who have monitoring software (with brands including PermissionResearch, OpinionSquare and VoiceFive Networks)[32] installed on their computers. In exchange for joining the Comscore research panels, users are presented with various benefits, including computer security software, Internet data storage, virus scanning, and chances to win cash or prizes.

Comscore estimates that two million users are part of the monitoring program.[33] However, self-selected populations, no matter how large, may not be representative of the population as a whole. To obtain the most accurate data, Comscore adjusts the statistics using weights to make sure that each population segment is adequately represented. To calculate these weights, Comscore regularly recruits panelists using random digit dialing and other offline recruiting methods to accurately determine how many users are online, aggregated by geography, income, and age.[34] [35] [36] Correcting the Comscore data requires having accurate demographics about the larger pool of users. However, some Comscore users are recruited without being asked to give demographic information and, in other cases, users may not be truthful about their demographics. To ensure the accuracy of the data, Comscore verifies its users' demographics during the course of measuring statistical data.[37]

The corrected data is used to generate reports on topics ranging from web traffic[38] to video streaming activity[39] and consumer buying power.[40]

In April 2020, Comscore launched a faster local TV rating service -- with a turnaround of 48 hours, as opposed to the previous two weeks span it takes TV stations to get TV ratings data.[41]

Unified Digital Measurement

In May 2009, Comscore introduced Unified Digital Measurement (UDM), a digital audience measurement tool that blended panel and census-based measurement approaches. The methodology calculates audience reach without being affected by cookie deletion and cookie blocking/rejection.[42]

Campaign measurement

Comscore debuted Campaign Essentials in 2010 to measure how digital campaigns are reaching their audiences. In March 2012, Comscore launched validated Campaign Essentials (vCE), which introduced the notion of “validated” impressions.[43] In January 2013, Comscore announced that it had evaluated 4,000 campaigns for clients covering more than 75 advertising agencies.[44]

Criticism

In 2006, Ben Edelman, a Harvard researcher, alleged that there were cases where Comscore software had been installed on users' computers without their knowledge.[45] Comscore admitted that it was in discussion with a spyware firm called DollarRevenue but said that no contract was ever signed, and that once it realized DollarRevenue was distributing Comscore's software, months later, it took steps to prevent the DollarRevenue-distributed software from sending data to Comscore.[46] Stanford IT notes that the monitoring software has been bundled with file sharing program iMesh without users being aware of it, although Comscore's relationship with iMesh was short-lived and occurred several years ago.[46]

In the past, the software forwarded users' internet traffic through Comscore proxy servers, provoking criticism about speed performance.[47] [48] As a result, several universities and banks took steps to block the proxy servers.[49] [50]

In June 2010, a warning about Mac Spyware being launched from free applications like screensavers, from security company Intego[51] was reported in the media and implicated VoiceFive, Inc. as the source of certain alleged spyware software.[52] VoiceFive, Inc. has become compliant with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, as well as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).[53]

Additionally, noted blogger and angel investor Jason Calacanis claimed that Comscore was running an 'extorting ring' by vastly undercounting publisher traffic numbers and forcing them to pay fees for direct measurement via a tracking pixel.[54] Comscore responded to these allegations by offering their direct measurement tracking pixel to long-tail web publishers for free.[55]

SEC findings

In 2019, Comscore Inc. and its former CEO Serge Matta were charged with engaging in a fraudulent scheme to overstate revenue by approximately $50 million and making false and misleading statements about key performance metrics.[56] The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found that Comscore and Matta made false and misleading public disclosures regarding the company’s customer base and flagship product and that Matta lied to Comscore's internal accountants and external audit firm in order. This enabled Comscore to artificially exceed its analysts' consensus revenue target in seven consecutive quarters and create the illusion of smooth and steady growth in Comscore's business. The company has replaced the former CEO and other senior executives; its new management team has settled the SEC charges without admitting or denying wrongdoing in September 2019 for $5 million.[57] [58] Two years before the charges, Comscore had restated its financial statements and rectified all concerns of its accounting practices around revenue recognition.[59] According to the company, it has since implemented remedial efforts, including new internal control procedures and policies and new compliance systems.[60] Its new compliance program was recognized as the "Best Compliance and Ethics Program (Small to Mid-Cap)" at the 12th Corporate Governance Awards in 2019.[61]

Awards

Alliances

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and Comscore work together to measure three-screen users and their behavior with content and advertising across television, Internet, and mobile.[76]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ComScore.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools. WHOIS. September 20, 2016.
  2. Web site: Comscore, Inc. 2021 Annual Report (Form 10-K) . March 2, 2022 . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  3. News: Comscore Networks Introduces "Customer Knowledge Platform" that Provides a 360° View of Customer Buying and Browsing Behavior on the Internet. September 18, 2000. Comscore. November 2, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061019072623/http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=6. October 19, 2006. dead.
  4. Web site: Web-traffic specialist Comscore files for IPO. MarketWatch. April 2, 2007.
  5. . Comscore to Appoint Serge Matta Chief Executive Officer. Reston, Virginia . Comscore, Inc.. PR Newswire. February 11, 2014 . September 8, 2016.
  6. . Comscore Board Names Co-Founder Gian Fulgoni as Company's Chief Executive Officer. Reston, Virginia . Comscore, Inc. . PR Newswire . August 10, 2016 . September 8, 2016.
  7. News: Medici. Andy. Here's why Nasdaq is threatening to delist Comscore. Washington Business Journal. September 6, 2016. September 8, 2016.
  8. Web site: Comscore Provides Update on Nasdaq Listing (NASDAQ:SCOR). ir.comscore.com. en. February 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170207123630/http://ir.comscore.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1010464. February 7, 2017. dead.
  9. Web site: Comscore CEO Fulgoni to Retire Sooner Than Expected Broadcasting & Cable. www.broadcastingcable.com. November 14, 2017. November 16, 2017.
  10. News: ComScore Appoints 360i Chairman Bryan Wiener as CEO. Bruell. Alexandra. April 23, 2018. Wall Street Journal. April 23, 2018. Vranica. Suzanne. en-US. 0099-9660.
  11. Web site: Comscore Announces Appointment of Bryan Wiener as Chief Executive Officer. Comscore. www.prnewswire.com. en. April 23, 2018.
  12. Web site: Introducing Our New Brand . 2024-02-11 . Comscore, Inc. . en-US.
  13. News: Bruell . Alexandra . Comscore Leaders to Depart After Less Than a Year .
  14. Web site: Bill Livek Plans to Retire as Comscore CEO . Variety . Todd Spangler . February 28, 2022 . July 1, 2022.
  15. Web site: Surfing Down Memory Lane to January 1996: Comscore Media Metrix Revisits First-Ever Web Site Rankings . November 2, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061019072744/http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=434 . October 19, 2006 . dead .
  16. News: PC Meter Renames, Remakes Itself. Wired News. July 21, 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/20041201145733/http://www.wired.com/news/business/0%2C1367%2C5357%2C00.html. December 1, 2004. dead.
  17. News: 2 Rating Services For Web Merge. SFGate. October 13, 1998 . Carol . Emert.
  18. News: May 7, 1999 Market Close. Motley Fool. November 2, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20070329225733/http://www.fool.com/EveningNews/1999/EveningNews990507.htm. March 29, 2007. dead.
  19. News: Media Metrix, Jupiter merge in $414 million deal. CNET. June 27, 2000.
  20. News: Jupiter sells part of measurement unit. CNET. June 6, 2002.
  21. Web site: comScore Acquires M:Metrics . April 29, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090420110308/http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2244 . April 20, 2009 . dead .
  22. News: Comscore to Acquire Certifica, a Leading Provider of Real-Time Web Measurement and Digital Marketing Technology Solutions in Latin America. Comscore, Inc.. October 29, 2010.
  23. News: Comscore Announces Acquisition of ARSgroup. Comscore, Inc.. February 10, 2010.
  24. News: Comscore Acquires Products Division of Nexius, Inc.. Comscore, Inc.. July 1, 2010.
  25. News: Comscore Acquires Nedstat, Global Analytics and Online Optimization Provider. Comscore, Inc.. September 1, 2010.
  26. Web site: Comscore Acquires Proximic to Bolster Pre-Bid Solutions for Buyers and Sellers .
  27. Web site: Comscore Introduces Proximic by Comscore as a Dedicated Programmatic Targeting Division .
  28. News: Perlberg. Steven. Vranica. Suzanne. Media Industry Welcomes ComScore-Rentrak Deal. May 6, 2016. Wall Street Journal. October 3, 2015. October 2, 2015.
  29. Dreyer . Kate . Comscore and Rentrak to Merge, Creating Leading Cross-Platform Measurement Company . July 7, 2024 . September 29, 2015.
  30. News: Liyakasa. Kelly. ComScore Completes $768M Merger With Rentrak In Bid For Cross-Screen Measurement. May 7, 2016. AdExchanger.com. February 1, 2016.
  31. Web site: Comscore acquires Shareablee to offer cross-platform consumer insights . exchange4media . December 18, 2021 . July 7, 2024.
  32. Web site: voicefive.com - more Comscore tracking stuff. June 7, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100618222025/http://zeronomy.com/privacy/voicefivecom-more-comscore-tracking-stuff. June 18, 2010. dead.
  33. Web site: Comscore's March 30th S-1 SEC form. SEC. March 30, 2007.
  34. Web site: Review of Comscore Methodology. Advertising Research Foundation (ARF). 2001.
  35. Web site: Collecting & Analyzing Web Usage Data from User Panels. Comscore. April 2001. 7, 9, 13. November 15, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061019030102/http://cendi.dtic.mil/presentations/KevinGartonApr17.ppt. October 19, 2006. dead.
  36. Web site: Comscore Methodology . November 2, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061019065914/http://www.comscore.com/method/method.asp . October 19, 2006 . dead .
  37. Web site: The "Professional Respondent" Problem In Online Survey Panels Today. Comscore. June 2005. 8–10.
  38. News: Comscore Releases Worldwide Ranking of Top Web Properties. Comscore. October 26, 2006.
  39. News: Comscore Releases U.S. Video Metrix Rankings. Comscore. September 27, 2006. November 2, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061019065857/http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1015. October 19, 2006. dead.
  40. News: Newspaper Web Site Audiences Grow Faster Than Total Internet Populations In Largest U.S. Markets. Comscore. July 8, 2002. November 2, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061019072246/http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=81. October 19, 2006. dead.
  41. Web site: Comscore Launches Faster Local TV Ratings. www.mediapost.com. en. April 7, 2020.
  42. Web site: Comscore Announces Media Metrix 360: The Next Generation of Global Digital Audience Measurement. Comscore. May 31, 2009.
  43. Web site: Comscore Introduces Validated Campaign Essentials™ (vCE). Comscore. January 18, 2012.
  44. Web site: Comscore vCE Reaches Milestone with Completion of 4,000th Client Study. Comscore. January 23, 2013.
  45. Web site: Comscore Doesn't Always Get Consent. benedelman.org. Ben Edelman. July 26, 2006.
  46. Web site: How Much Privacy?. https://web.archive.org/web/20061210085539/http://www.forbes.com/security/2006/12/07/internet-security-research-tech_cx_ll_1208comscore.html. dead. December 10, 2006. Forbes. Lisa Lerer. December 7, 2006.
  47. Web site: MarketScore Spyware. Stanford Information Security Office. January 11, 2005.
  48. Web site: An Analysis of the New Marketscore Proxy. May 31, 2005. Cornell's IT Security Office.
  49. News: 'Researchware' watches where you click. NBC News. April 20, 2005.
  50. News: ComScore: Spyware or 'researchware'?. CNET. December 20, 2004.
  51. News: Intego Security Alert: OSX/OpinionSpy Spyware Installed by Freely Distributed Mac Applications. Intego. June 1, 2010.
  52. News: Mac OS X OpinionSpy – same old, same old . June 2, 2010.
  53. Web site: VoiceFive. www.voicefive.com. October 18, 2019.
  54. Web site: Arrington. Michael. Jason Calacanis Punches Comscore In The Face. Comscore Punches Back. Fred Wilson Drags Us Into It. $SCOR. Techcrunch. January 24, 2010 . September 12, 2015.
  55. Web site: HARDAWAR. DEVINDRA. ComScore site tracking now free, offers discounts for startups. Venturebeat. May 26, 2010. September 12, 2015.
  56. Web site: SEC Charges Comscore Inc. and Former CEO with Accounting and Disclosure Fraud. September 24, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190924190144/https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-186 . September 24, 2019 . live.
  57. News: Comscore, ex-CEO settle SEC charges they fraudulently inflated revenue . Reuters . September 24, 2019 .
  58. Web site: Major media analytics firm Comscore was charged with fraud under a former CEO — but the company's new leadership reached a settlement . .
  59. Web site: SEC Charges Comscore's Matta for Overstating Revenue, Penalties Issued .
  60. Web site: Comscore Settles Previously Disclosed Securities and Exchange Matter .
  61. Web site: How Comscore takes a data-based approach to compliance . January 27, 2020 .
  62. News: 2009 Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award. American Marketing Association. October 6, 2009.
  63. News: Past Winners . Chicago Innovation Awards . October 20, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100311044420/http://www.chicagoinnovationawards.com/past-winners/2009 . March 11, 2010 .
  64. News: Meffys winners showcase vibrant mobile entertainment industry. m-e-f.org. June 24, 2009.
  65. News: William Blair & Company and CIMA Release Fifth Installment of Semiannual Interactive Marketing Survey. William Blair & Company. July 8, 2008.
  66. News: Comscore Ranked as Fastest Growing Company Among 20 Largest Global Market Research Firms. Comscore, Inc.. August 13, 2008.
  67. Web site: Technology Pioneers. World Economic Forum. May 19, 2007.
  68. News: MIT Sloan's Buck Weaver marketing award honors Comscore CEO. MIT Sloan School of Management. January 21, 2011. April 8, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110213093135/http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/2011-Weaver.php. February 13, 2011. dead.
  69. Web site: Digital Analytics Association 2014 Awards for Excellence Recipients . digitalanalyticsassociation.org . May 27, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140326231831/http://www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org/awardrecipients2014 . March 26, 2014 .
  70. Web site: Comscore Digital Analytix Multi-Platform Awarded 2014 New Technology of the Year by Digital Analytics Association . Comscore, Inc. . May 27, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140326232209/http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2014/3/Comscore_Digital_Analytix_Multi-Platform_Awarded . March 26, 2014 .
  71. Web site: Comscore Received Innovation Award from Skillsoft and SumTotal. Comscore, Inc.. en-US. October 18, 2019.
  72. Web site: Perspectives 2018. perspectives.skillsoft.com. October 18, 2019.
  73. Web site: IAB Europe Research Awards - Now accepting entries. Take a look at 2018 winners for inspiration - Interact Congress IAB Europe Research Awards - Take a look at 2018 winners for inspiration. Harris. Ellie. February 15, 2019. Interact Congress. en-GB. October 18, 2019.
  74. Web site: National Capital Region Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). www.acc.com. October 18, 2019.
  75. Web site: Outstanding Law Department. www.bizjournals.com. October 18, 2019.
  76. Web site: ComScore, CIMM Unveil Cross-Platform Data Set . multichannel.com . April 22, 2015 . October 4, 2018.

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