comScore Grows, Buys Ad Research Firm

In the US, online measurement firm comScore has announced strong results, and the acquisition of comms research firm the ARSgroup, which specializes in the measurement of advertising persuasion for TV and multi-media campaigns. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, ARSgroup works with advertisers to measure, optimize and predict the effectiveness of their ad messages.

The firm's products evaluate and quantify the impact of campaigns run on any combination of media, including TV, print, radio, outdoor and digital. Areas of expertise include brand strategy, all stages of creative development, campaign evaluation across all marketing and media channels, media planning and strategy, return-on-investment, and forecasting.

comScore says the acquisition will strengthen its position in the cross-media measurement arena, while providing it with a staff of high caliber researchers who have experience working with the 'world's great brands'.

comScore President & CEO Magid Abraham comments: 'We believe that the high quality, proven research tools and practices of the ARSgroup will powerfully complement comScore's existing product suite. We are excited about the opportunity to leverage ARS's expertise to build innovative solutions in the online measurement space and to provide leading cross-media measurement solutions for the measurement of ad effectiveness.'

ARSgroup CEO Jeff Cox added that the deal would enable his firm to expand its offerings globally, and provide an even broader set of tools to help mutual clients measure ads across all media.

Following completion of the acquisition - which is expected to take place in March 2010 - ARSgroup will be renamed comScore ARS, and Cox will become EVP of comScore.

comScore has today reported a 7% increase in earnings to $33.8m for the fourth quarter of 2009, and an 8.8% increase in revenues to $127.7m for the full year.

Web sites: www.arsgroup.com and www.comScore.com .