Bots, Buyouts and The Sample Landscape

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