Intellicast

Welcome back to Intellicast! On today’s episode, Brian is joined by Matthew Alexander for a news-heavy, and slightly feisty, conversation covering mergers, data quality, respondent experience, and a brand-new
recurring segment we didn’t know we needed: the “No Sh*t, Sherlock”*
news section.

The episode kicks off with a look at recent M&A activity, as Voxco’s owner, Terminus Capital Partners, acquires Discuss.io, merging the two brands under the Discuss name. Brian and Matthew talk about the ongoing wave of private equity–driven consolidation in the industry, and why so many deals now seem to be led by outside investors rather than research insiders.

Next, they highlight Research Results’ new partnership with Verisoul, marking another big win for the fraud-detection newcomer. Henry LeGard and his team have gone from zero market research clients to over fifteen in less than a year, and both the guys agree it’s just the start of a larger industry shift toward fintech-grade data quality tools.

The duo then dives into the latest releases from the Global Data Quality Initiative (GDQ), including new resources on participant incentives and procurement standards. While Brian sees these guidelines as an important step toward consistency, Matthew plays devil’s advocate: “How much impact can guidelines really have when there’s no incentive to follow them?”

From there, the conversation gets spicy with the debut of the “No Sh*t, Sherlock” segment, tackling three headlines that state the obvious:

• Poor customer experience costs companies trillions (who knew?).
• Surveys are competing with social media for attention (no kidding).
• Researchers want more time for research (join the club).

Brian and Matthew share real-life stories about bad customer experiences, shrinking attention spans, and the ongoing disconnect between respondent expectations and survey design. It’s part vent session, part industry therapy, and all in good fun.

Thanks for tuning in!

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025 Edition? Get it here:  https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our whitepapers and reports?
You can find it all on our website’s Resources page here.

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Welcome back to Intellicast! On today’s episode, Brian is joined by Henry LeGard, CEO and founder of the fraud detection company Verisoul, for an in-depth discussion on the evolving state of data quality and fraud detection in market research.

We kick off the podcast by having Henry share how Verisoul, a company built initially to stop banking and fintech fraud, has quickly become one of the most talked-about new players in market research. He details how the company came to be, and how they entered the market research industry in 2025 with zero clients and are now protecting nearly 100 million survey clicks per month across the industry. Henry explains how Verisoul’s advanced fraud detection platform has had such a rapid impact on the industry. He shares how the team applied financial-grade fraud-prevention techniques to survey data collection, enabling them to detect and block the most sophisticated forms of digital fraud, including device spoofing, cross-continental proxy traffic, and bot farms operating at scale.

From there, Brian and Henry dive into Verisoul’s newly released Market Research Quality Report, which Henry describes as the largest fraud analysis ever published in the industry. For the report, the team analyzed more than 50 million sessions across 3,700 mobile apps in 190 countries, using a new proprietary technology that can identify the exact app where each respondent originated.

Henry explains how this innovation was crucial in uncovering real patterns of fraud across the ecosystem, revealing which app categories generate the cleanest and riskiest respondent traffic.

Brian and Henry also discuss how Verisoul’s findings challenge many long-held assumptions about data quality. While larger apps and panels tend to have lower fraud rates, older respondent sources didn’t necessarily perform better. The study also found that just five mobile apps accounted for more than 10% of all detected fraud, underscoring how small clusters of bad respondent sources can distort large portions of the industry’s data.

Later in the episode, Henry offers a perspective on the evolving sophistication of fraud, explaining that much of today’s market research fraud is human-driven rather than automated. Organized groups in low-income countries are using SIM card farms, aged burner domains, proxy networks, and more to appear as legitimate U.S. or European respondents.

Henry and Brian also talk about how Verisoul’s recently launched transparency initiative — a “fraud or not” ranking, complete with a lighthearted tomato-throwing Easter egg for bottom performers, is designed to help the industry recognize who’s getting data quality right. Rather than shaming providers, the goal is to encourage progress, reward transparency, and strengthen collaboration around fraud prevention.

To close out the episode, Brian and Henry discuss Verisoul’s creative marketing campaign, “We Smoke Fraud,” which debuted at the ESOMAR Congress in Prague. What started as a marketing stunt ended up earning the company some serious attention from venture capital investors.

For those who live and breathe data quality, this episode is for you.

Want to get a copy of Verisoul’s Market Research Quality Report? Download here: https://reports.verisoul.ai/mr-qualityreport-25

Want to check out the Fraud or Not Ranking list? Take a look here: https://rankings.verisoul.ai/

If you want to learn more about Verisoul, visit their website at www.verisoul.ai

You can connect with Henry on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrylegard/

Thanks for tuning in!

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025 Edition? Get it here:  https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our whitepapers and reports?
You can find it all on our Resources page on our website here.

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Welcome back to Intellicast! On today’s episode, Brian is joined by Gabby Blados to cover one of the busiest news weeks the insights industry has had in a while, featuring a billion-dollar merger, a major leadership shake-up, and plenty of questions about what’s next.

The episode kicks off with the biggest headline of the week: Qualtrics’ announcement that it plans to acquire Press Ganey Forsta for over $6
billion. Brian and Gabby dive into what this means for the market research world, especially as two of the most widely used survey programming platforms — Qualtrics and Decipher — will soon fall under one roof.

Brian wonders if this level of consolidation could raise antitrust or competition concerns within the industry, while Gabby reflects on what this might mean for current Decipher users, including EMI. They also explore whether this deal might spark a new wave of innovation from smaller, niche platforms looking to position themselves as alternatives to the latest “industry Goliath.”

Next, Brian and Gabby turn their attention to the surprising news that dropped the same morning — Melanie Courtright, CEO of the Insights Association, is stepping down after five years to join Sego as Chief Strategy Officer. Both agree that this was a major surprise for many across the industry.

The pair discusses Melanie’s strong legacy with the Insights Association, including how she unified chapters, modernized the association’s structure, and strengthened its position as the leading voice for research professionals. Gabby and Brian share their excitement for her new role at Sego, while also speculating about what comes next for IA’s leadership and the direction the organization will take.

In between these two major headlines, Brian and Gabby also touch on a few other key stories — including the Census Bureau’s recent layoffs and their potential implications for data accuracy, and new developments in the ongoing conversation around data quality and AI-driven fraud detection.

And because no episode would be complete without a little fun, they close out the episode by ranking their top Halloween candies.

Thanks for tuning in!

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025 Edition? Get it here: https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our whitepapers and reports?
You can find it all on our Resources page on our website here.

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Welcome back to Intellicast! On today’s episode, Brian is joined by market research’s favorite lobbyist, the Senior Vice President of Advocacy for the Insights Association, Howard Fienberg. He makes his return to Intellicast to discuss the latest developments in privacy legislation and more.

Kicking off the episode, Brian and Howard discuss the current state of privacy legislation in the United States. Howard gives an update on his efforts to help the industry navigate new state privacy legislation in 2025, on where we stand on new state privacy legislation that may be coming down the pipe.  

The conversation changes its focus to a potential federal version of privacy legislation. Howard discusses the various efforts that have taken place in the past and why he believes the current efforts are distinct. He is cautiously optimistic that we could see a serious proposal introduced in 2026.

Brian and Howard then discuss the LiveRamp lawsuit and its current and future impact on the market research industry. Howard mentions how this lawsuit has spotlighted how trial lawyers are twisting old surveillance laws, initially written for phone wiretaps, to sue companies over tracking cookies. Even if most cases aren’t held up in court, they’re expensive and distracting.

In the final segment, Brian and Howard discuss the recent decision in the EU to uphold the Data Privacy Framework, the current agreement that allows U.S. companies to transfer data from the EU. This may have flown
under the radar for many, but Howard talks about how important this court ruling is for every business in market research.

Want to stay up to date on Howard’s advocacy work for our industry? Log into you IA account and head to the Advocacy section: https://www.insightsassociation.org/Advocacy/Protecting-the-Profession

You can connect with Howard on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardfienberg/), or by email at Howard.Fienberg@insightsassociation.com.

Thanks for tuning in!

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025 Edition? Get it here: https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our whitepapers and reports? You can find it all on our Resources page on our website here.

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Welcome back to Intellicast! Brian Peterson is freshly back from the 2025 Corporate Researchers Conference (CRC) in Chicago and is ready to break it all down. Joining him is his presenting partner at CRC and Vice President of The Link Group, Andrew Hunt.

Andrew and Brian jump right in and discuss the overall trends from the conference, including:

• How AI is not the end-all, be-all, but how it is being incorporated into existing processes to make organizations faster, more efficient, and uncover hidden insights.
• Everyone wants to be faster   
  Data Quality – More brands are starting to take an interest and ask questions.
• The IA rebrand
• And more!

The guys then discuss some of their favorite sessions from the conference. Andrew talks about the first keynote session, Dare to Connect, which was the talk of the conference. Brian mentioned the C Space and McDonald’s video that humanized the insights that were gathered.

The guys then both touch on the session with Andrew’s colleague, Parks, who presented with Chick-fil-A, as well as the data quality session that kicked off day 3.

Finally, Brian and Andrew talk about some of their favorite activities
during their time in Chicago, some being tied to the conference, and others not so much.

If you want to relive CRC, or have FOMO from not being there, this episode can’t be missed!

Learn more about The Link Group by visiting their website: https://www.tlg.com/

You can connect with Andrew by email at ahunt@tlg.com or on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhunt7/)

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025
Edition? Get it here: https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our
whitepapers and reports? You can find it all on our Resources page on
our website here.

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Intellicast is back with a brand-new episode covering the latest news from around the market research industry. Join Brian Peterson and Aron Wilson as they break down the latest headlines, including:

• Decline in Forrester’s Q2 revenue
• Azure Knowledge rebrand to Matrix
• Kantar and Cint expanding their partnership
• How iOS 26 will hurt mobile polling and representative sample
• A class-action privacy lawsuit against LiveRamp

Brian and Aron also spend time announcing the conferences they will be attending this fall!

• Catch Brian, joined by The Link Group’s Andrew Hunt, at Insights Association’s Corporate Researchers Conference in Chicago this September 9-11th. Check out their session Built for Trust: Why Clients Should Demand a Layered Data Quality Strategy on Wednesday afternoon at 1:45 PM.
• At ESOMAR Trends Horizon in DC on Nov 5-6, Matthew Alexander and Aron Wilson will be presenting Smarter, Faster, Faker? The Real Results from Testing Synthetic Respondents, a deep dive into how well AI-generated personas can mimic real consumer insights.

If you’re hoping to stay informed on the big names and changes in market research, then this episode is for you!

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The research world is never short on headlines, and this week’s Intellicast is proof.

Brian and Gabby return to break down the latest headlines from around the market research industry. Topping the list is a deep dive into the new whitepaper from Strat7, which compares synthetic data providers using real-world testing methods. The whitepaper finds that while synthetic data performs well on individual questions, it falls apart when you examine the full respondent experience — consistency, internal logic, and key drivers simply don’t align with real human behavior.

Meanwhile, ESOMAR has updated its Code of Standards in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce. The revised code introduces major new guidance on:

• Use of AI and synthetic data
• Consent and notification protocols Biometric and immersive data collection
• Inclusivity and the “duty of care” to vulnerable respondents

Other major topics in the episode include:

• Kantar Worldpanel rebranding under Numerator
• Norstat’s acquisition of Sample Solutions, strengthening its global B2B sample reach
• Rep Data’s “No Fly” list to filter out fraudulent respondents using Research Defender
• NIQ’s $1.25B IPO filing, aimed at reducing debt and increasing competitiveness

This episode is perfect for anyone trying to stay informed on sample trends, ethics in AI, and what the future holds for insights professionals.

Thanks for listening!

You can get your free copy of the Strat7 whitepaper here: https://strat7.com/ebooks/putting-synthetic-data-to-the-test/

Miss our webinar, The Sample Landscape: The 2025 State of Sample? Check out the on-demand version here.

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025 Edition? Get it here: https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our whitepapers and reports? You can find it all on our Resources page on our website here.

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What do car dealership surveys, goldfish, and chatbots have in common? They all come up in this episode of Intellicast, where Brian and Mary sit down with Lorin Drake, a Consumer Insights Strategist at Publix, to discuss all things respondent experience. It is a refreshingly honest discussion about what’s broken in the world of survey design—and how to potentially fix it.

The episode begins with Lorin delving into his background, explaining how he got into market research and ultimately ended up at Publix. Lorin then shares highlights from his IIeX presentation, “Surveys are Dead, Long Live Surveys.”

This leads into a larger conversation about how improving the respondent experience can improve data quality. Lorin lays out a path forward, including short LOIs, gamified surveys, more engaging question types, and additional features – all of which contribute to a more human-centric approach to data collection.

A few key takeaways:

• Survey fatigue is real: Response rates are falling, especially for surveys over 10 minutes. Completion rates have dropped as much as 13 points in the past decade.
• We’re losing the attention war: The average human attention span has fallen to 8 seconds, shorter than a goldfish. If your survey can’t compete with TikTok, it won’t survive.
• Gamification works: Lauren highlights a study where a visually enhanced survey took longer to complete but was perceived as shorter and far more enjoyable.
• Chatbots show promise: Compared to traditional surveys, AI-driven conversational surveys yielded higher completion rates, longer engagement times, and richer open-ended responses.
• Brands must lead the change: As Lorin puts it, “Would you take your own survey?” If not, don’t expect respondents to do it for you. The push for better experiences must start with the people funding the research.

Don’t miss this one if you care about data quality, respondent fatigue, or fixing bloated, boring surveys.

You can connect with Lorin on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorindrake/

Thanks for listening!

Miss our webinar, The Sample Landscape: The 2025 State of
Sample? Check out the on-demand version here.

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025
Edition? Get it here: https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our
whitepapers and reports? You can find it all on our Resources page on
our website here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this news-packed episode, Brian and Gabby break down the biggest happenings shaking up the market research space. Ipsos is expanding its European footprint with the proposed acquisition of the BVA Group, and AckWest continues its M&A spree, this time adding healthcare research firm Reckner to its growing roster. The industry is also seeing a wave of rebrands—Toluna is consolidating under one name, and Sympler now goes by “Okay, Humans” in a nod to human-focused research amid rising AI tension.

Speaking of AI, the hosts dig into Pulsar’s launch of Narratives AI—a public opinion search engine with promise (and bot-related pitfalls). Meanwhile, Numerator introduces a Tariff Risk Index to monitor price volatility, and EMI’s new Sample Landscape report tests synthetic data against real respondents, explores AI prompting tools, and dives deep into high-frequency survey takers.

It’s a can’t-miss conversation for anyone watching the balance between innovation and insight.

Thanks for listening!

Want to download your copy of The Sample Landscape: 2025 Edition? Get it here: https://content.emi-rs.com/sample-landscape-report-2025

Did you miss one of our webinars, or would you like to access some of our whitepapers and reports? You can find it all on our Resources page on our website here.

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Were you in Washington, DC, last week for IIeX? If not, our latest episode of Intellect has you covered! Brian Peterson and Matthew Alexander were in the nation’s capital for this year’s event and sat down to recap all the trends and topics.

Let’s dive into what the guys discussed:

Data Quality Takes Center Stage

One of the most talked-about issues this year was data quality, spurred on by the recent industry indictment. Sessions addressing fraud detection, transparent sampling practices, and respondent experience were standing room only. It’s clear that researchers are demanding more transparency and layered approaches to improving data quality, from better survey design, better tools, and even improved respondent experience.

AI and Synthetic Data: More Practical Applications and Progress

AI continued to dominate the conversation, but the tone has shifted. This year, discussions focused on practical applications of how AI can assist in the research process, with a variety of presenters showing how they had integrated AI into their tools.

Synthetic data was also a large topic of conversation, with several presenters showing their latest strides in synthetic data and how they are validating it. Brian and Matthew both agreed that the applications are gaining traction in qualitative research, but based on the presentations, were still cautious about its readiness for quantitative applications.

What Worked (and What Didn’t) From a Format Perspective

Both Brian and Matthew felt Washington, D.C. was a fantastic host city—clean, easy to navigate, and close to the airport. They were also happy that the Greenbook team abandoned the headphone concept that was used in
Austin. The only drawback they found was that some sessions suffered from mismatched room sizes, with popular topics overflowing beyond capacity. They speculated that because of the indictment news that broke just a couple of weeks prior, there was increased interest in some topics.

Give it a listen and let us know what you think. And hey, if IIeX comes to Cincinnati next year like Brian and Matthew suggested, we’ll see you there!

Did you miss one of our webinars or want to get some of our whitepapers and reports? You can find it all on our Resources page on our website here.

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