Media Metrix Forms Joint Venture With Ipsos S.A.

Internet audience measurement firm Media Metrix (MMXI) on Tuesday agreed to a joint venture with Ipsos S.A., to create Media Metrix Latin America.

Ipsos is a French research firm, which has points of presence in Europe, Latin America, the USA and the Middle East. In Latin America, it has offices or partners in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia. The joint venture between it and Media Metrix will cover Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, some of the fastest-growing Internet markets in the region.

Media Metrix has already begun recruiting panelists to serve as a representative sample of the Latin American audience. The company measures and collects data with a software meter that resides on panelists’ computers and automatically tracks Internet usage. Preliminary data is scheduled for release to clients in the fall of this year.

“Media Metrix’ global expansion is driven by marketplace demand and our clients’ rapidly growing need for the highest quality research and in-depth understanding of the worldwide Internet audience”, said Tod Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer, Media Metrix.

“Media Metrix’ proven leadership and methodology combined with Ipsos’ expertise and knowledge of its regional market helps to further our goal of providing accurate, reliable and comparable Internet and digital media measurement products and services to businesses worldwide.”

The two companies have also agreed to work together in France and the United Kingdom, where Media Metrix has already set up a European operation.

Media Metrix measures Internet audiences in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. It expects to launch in Japan in the near future.

The company’s most significant competitor, Nielsen//NetRatings already has an operation in Japan, which is a joint venture of NetRatings, Trans Cosmos, and Tekinvest. Nielsen//NetRatings has a partnership with ACNielsen to begin developing audience measurement panels in Europe, the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, and Africa. So far, the partnership has succeeded in launching a joint venture with Mediametrie, a French measurement firm, in France.