YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and since December 2017 it has owned Galaxy Research, an Australian market research company.

History

YouGov was founded in the UK in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare and future UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi. In 2001 they engaged BBC political analyst Peter Kellner, who became chairman, and then from 2007 to 2016, President. In April 2005, YouGov became a public company listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. In 2007, polling firm Polimetrix, headed by

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

professor Doug Rivers, was acquired by the company.

Galaxy Research

Galaxy Research was an Australian market researching company that provided opinion polling for state and federal politics. Its polls were published in News Limited tabloid newspapers, including the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'', ''

Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' and '' The Daily Telegraph'' (in contrast to Newspoll data which is presented in the News Limited broadsheet newspaper '' The Australian''). In December 2017, YouGov purchased Galaxy Research to establish presence in Australia.

Description and governance

Stephan Shakespeare has been YouGov's Chief Executive Officer since 2010.

Roger Parry Roger George Parry CBE (born 1953) is a media and technology entrepreneur based in the UK. He is chairman of a number of companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange including Oxford Metrics plc and YouGov plc. He is the co-founder of the int ...

has been YouGov's Chairman since 2007. Since Peter Kellner's retirement as chair in 2016, its methodology has been overseen by Doug Rivers, former owner of Polimetrix. , major shareholders of the company included

Liontrust Asset Management Liontrust Asset Management plc is a British asset management company based in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company, which was established in 1995, was the subject of a ...

(14.23%);

Standard Life Aberdeen Abrdn plc (stylised as ‘abrdn’, disemvoweling of "Aberdeen"), formerly Standard Life Aberdeen plc, is a United Kingdom-based global investment company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a ...

(8.6%); Octopus Investments (7.78%); BlackRock (7.63%); and Stephan & Rosamund Shakespeare (6.85%). YouGov is a member of the British Polling Council.

Methodology

YouGov specialises in market research and opinion polling through online methods. The company's methodology involves obtaining responses from an invited group of Internet users, and then weighting these responses in line with

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

information. It draws these demographically representative samples from a panel of over 12 million people worldwide.

Expansions

In 2006, YouGov began expanding outside the UK through acquisitions and acquired Dubai-based research firm Siraj for $1.2 million plus an eventual

earn out Earnout or earn-out refers to a pricing structure in mergers and acquisitions where the sellers must "earn" part of the purchase price based on the performance of the business following the acquisition. Description Earnouts are often employed when ...

of $600,000. In 2007, they added

Palo Alto, CA Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

based US research firm Polimetrix for approximately $17 million, Scandinavian firm Zapera for $8 million and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

firm

Psychonomics Psychonomics describes an approach to psychology that aims at discovering the laws (Greek: ' nomos') that govern the workings of the mind (Greek: 'psyche'). The field is directly related to experimental psychology. The word is used most prominentl ...

for $20 million. In 2009 and 2010, YouGov expanded its US operations with two acquisitions; first buying

Princeton, NJ Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whic ...

research firm Clear Horizons for $600,000 plus an earn out of $2.7 million, then Connecticut-based research firm Harrison Group for $6 million with a $7 million earnout. In 2011, YouGov acquired Portland, OR-based firm Definitive Insights for $1 million with a potential $2 million earn out. In 2011, YouGov made its first organic expansion by opening an office in Paris, France. In January 2014, YouGov entered the Asia Pacific region with the acquisition of Decision Fuel for an estimated consideration of approximately £5 million. In 2010, YouGov bought a 20% stake of sports media data company SMG Insight. In 2018, the company acquired the remaining 80% of SMG Insight's stock. The new business was rebranded YouGov Sport.

Allegations of poll manipulation

In June 2022, former employee Chris Curtis, who at this time worked for competitor Opinium, said that during the

2017 United Kingdom general election The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing ...

, a YouGov poll was suppressed by the company because it was "too positive about

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

", under pressure from the Conservative co-founder of YouGov Nadhim Zahawi. YouGov denied that the poll was spiked for political reasons, instead arguing that the poll was based on a "skewed sample". Former YouGov president Peter Kellner confirmed last-minute small methodology changes which transferred 2% from Labour to Conservative and increased the predicted Conservative lead from 3% to 7%. A day later, Curtis withdrew his allegations, saying that he now accepted "YouGov's position that in fact the results were pulled because of concerns other members of the team had about the methodology", and that he had not intended to allege that Nadhim Zahawi had had any bearing on the decision, and apologised for any confusion caused by his previous statements.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yougov Service companies of the United Kingdom Public opinion research companies British companies established in 2000 Market research companies of the United Kingdom Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Online research methods Companies based in London 2000 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 mergers and acquisitions 2017 mergers and acquisitions Polling organisations in the United Kingdom Opinion polling in Australia

History

Galaxy Research

Description and governance

Methodology

Expansions

Allegations of poll manipulation

See also

Australia

United Kingdom

United States

References

External links