GfK DAM will continue to be the recommended digital meter in Spain from 2027, as reported by the company itself in a statement together with the Monitoring Commission, made up of the Spanish Association of Advertisers (AEA), the Association for Media Research (AIMC) and IAB Spain.
“With the aim of providing the Spanish digital industry with a measurement of digital consumption that is consensual, robust and representative of market needs, the Monitoring Commission and GfK DAM are currently working on the process that will culminate in the extension of the recommendation of GfK DAM as a reference meter in Spain from 2027.”, he points out in a statement.
GfK was selected as a recommended meter in 2021
The decision represents the continuation of the collaboration with GfK, which was selected in March 2021 as the recommended digital meter, after holding a competition whose call was launched in July 2020. The company began to act as such on January 1, 2022, and so far the contract had already received an extension, valid until December 31, 2025, to continue as a recommended meter during 2026, while the duration of the competition process.
The extension of GfK’s recommendation comes after last July the AIMC chose Comscore to take over, following the competition called in March. As the association explained at the time, Comscore’s proposal prevailed, precisely over that of GfK and Nielsen.
The AIMC highlighted the company’s hybrid methodology, which combines census data with data from different panels, and which was one of the requirements of the document. He also valued positively the incorporation of new developments and services in recent years, especially linked to social networks and artificial intelligence.
However, just a few weeks after the decision was announced, Comscore reported that it was not in a position to formalize the contract or execute the project committed to in its proposal due to the company’s international restructuring process. As reported by the AIMC, this process has meant “a significant transformation of its operations and its workforce, affecting its ability to develop the project within the scope, conditions and schedule initially contemplated”.
The company, for its part, had stated: “It would not be responsible, neither for the AIMC nor for the Spanish market, to assume commitments that Comscore cannot guarantee at this time to meet at the level that the industry expects and deserves.”.
The new global strategy that Comscore launched in August aims to restructure the business, optimize the company’s operations and invest in long-term growth opportunities. “This strategy seeks to reduce and make the company’s cost structure more flexible, simplify Comscore’s internal and external operations, strengthen accountability and concentrate resources on products and opportunities that generate lasting value in the long term.”; they explained.
This has involved, in the words of CEO Matt McLaughlin, the substantial reduction of staff, as well as additional initiatives aimed at simplifying complex areas and rationalizing the company’s international commercial presence. These measures have affected the structure of Comscore in Spain, a country in which it has operated with its own resources since 2010.
As a consequence, the AIMC announced that the Board of Directors would meet in the following days to analyze the situation and decide next steps regarding the future of the digital measurement service in Spain. The fruit of this analysis is the extension of the relationship with GfK, which will continue to serve as the recommended digital meter from 2027, although the agreements are still in the formalization phase and will be communicated to the market in the coming weeks.
GfK is committed to continuing “guaranteeing the service to its clients and evolving the measurement in coordination with the Monitoring Commission, in accordance with what has been previously communicated to its clients and the industry itself”, as reflected in the statement.
