MetrixLab Buys Stake in Precision Sample

Rotterdam, Netherlands-based online research firm MetrixLab has agreed to acquire a stake in US firm Precision Sample, whose panels will be integrated with the former's MarketTools sample ecosystem.

Precision will eventually form MetrixLab / MarketTools' North American sample solution, but will continue to expand its sample only offering in the marketplace. The company was founded in 2010 and boasts over 1 million 'highly vetted, active respondents' across the US, Canada, UK & Australia. This year it planned to establish new panels in Western Europe and Latin America, and a dedicated Hispanics panel in the US.

Precision's 'Sample Partner Network' (SPN) links the firm with 26 highly varied large volume online properties, from Coupon & Job Sites to B2B Communities, and now adds around 300,000 new members each month. MetrixLab says a key advantage of Precision's panels is that they display a very low incidence of 'Professional Panelist' behavior, vs competitor panels, with phenomena such as speeding, straight-lining and statisficing at around one third of competitors' levels - this is attributed to its recruitment methods and use of honoraria which are not straight cash payments.

MetrixLab CEO Han de Groot comments: 'We are pleased to bring such a promising, well-positioned North American sample provider closer to the MetrixLab family. We're confident that Precision Sample's innovative recruiting methodology will provide engaged respondents for MetrixLab and MarketTools clients and prove highly scalable as we work to expand its offerings into a global sample network.' Precision's CEO Don Golden describes the partnership as 'a perfect fit at a time when the company is poised to expand globally.'

MetrixLab, which acquired MarketTools just under a year ago from its short-term owner TPG Growth, has additional offices in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Francisco, Shanghai, Hyderabad, London, Hamburg, Paris and Madrid, and conducts online research in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Web sites are at www.metrixlab.com , www.markettools.com and www.precisionsample.com .