Buzzmetrics, Intelliseek Merge with Nielsen

Buzzmetrics today announced they have purchased Intelliseek and sold a majority stake in the new company to Nielsen, which is owned by VNU. The new company, called Nielsen Buzzmetrics, will be headquartered here in New York. Dizzy yet?

BuzzMetrics and Intelliseek have lead the way with high-end tools for tracking and analyzing consumer-generated word-of-mouth in blogs, message boards and review sites. Now that they are joined at the hip with Nielsen I think we'll see new ways to measure the impact of the Long Tail. And my bet is they will look nothing like the methods of the past that relied on assessing traffic and unique users.

Nielsen, like other research companies that track and measure the media, was faced with a vexing issue. Namely: How do you evolve when the very media ecosystem on which you built your business is eroding? The answer is to acquire smart thinkers who have figured out ways to analyze, measure and live in a world where the Long Tail dominates.

The takeaway here is that it's very hard to build knowledge about the world of consumer generated media if you're not culturally built for it. It's much easier and faster to buy this knowledge, rather than building it on your own. Consumer generated media simply moves too fast.

I think we'll see the same shifts occur in both the PR and advertising agency worlds. These business also were built around big media. It's easier to buy this knowledge - either by recruiting top talent or by acquiring agencies outright that are experienced in conversational marketing - than it is to build this capability from the ground up. And no, CooperKatz is not for sale.

Technorati Tags: BuzzMetrics, Intelliseek, Media, Metrics, Nielsen, Data, WOM, wordofmouth, CGM, consumergeneratedmedia.

Comments

[Ephraim Cohen]

Don't forget that VNU itself may well be acquired buy a group of investors (http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-01-16T145118Z_01_L16726607_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-MEDIA-VNU-BID-DC.XML). It's a wonder how companies actually have time to manage their business when they are so busy acquiring and being acquired (media companies seem to be prime candidates).

[Rich Ottum]

Steve:

Well said. I’ve worked with the folks at Intelliseek, and they dedicated to helping their clients understand consumer generated media. This acquisition will help a traditional media metrics company like Neilsen prepare for a hectic digital future. See my note at http://www.marketingblurb.com/2006/01/nielsen_buzzmetricsthe_scoop_o.html

[Jim Nail]

History repeating itself. New ideas take root and begin to grow, ignored by the big, traditional leaders The minute some new area gets big enough, they buy it, whether it is the traditional ad agencies buying direct marketing and promotion shops, Gannett buying rich media company Pointroll, or Rupert Murdoch buying everything. This is a sign of maturity and growth for the business.

[Tara K]

Some of the biggest issues facing measurement and analysis of social media such as blogs, message boards, etc. are relevance, performance and spam. Same things all search engines face. Can't wait to hear more about this at WOMBAT later this week.

[Glenn Fannick]

It's not surprising to see consolidation in a sector that's filled with small companies trying to find a way to quantify consumer commentary. It also was just a matter of time before someone of the heft of VNU realized they need to be a player in this space.