A brief look at the media monitoring market

Newspapers can't seem to figure out how to monetize on online content, meanwhile, media monitoring is a multi billion industry with consumers paying for 'need to know' information.

Factiva and LexisNexis are the largest global databases and fall within what we can define as paid search databases. They accommodate corporate subscribers and perform specific research projects for their clients. Typically, subscribers are R&D departments of major companies, consulting firms and legal practitioners.

According to its website, Factiva, a Dow Jones company, has about 1.8 million(!) paying subscribers and nearly 80% of the Fortune Global 500 has an account with them. Lexis-Nexis on the other hand is focused on the legal research and business administration market and has an annual revenue of ca. $1.5 billion. Regional databases, similar to those of Factiva and LexisNexis, exist within each European media landscape. PMG and Genios are for example large players in the German language, Copipresse and Europresse are dominant in French, whereas Infomedia and Retriever of Schibsted AS, reign the Scandinavian media monitoring market.

Lately, these firms have been challenged by companies offering online consultancy and research services. They take brand monitoring and business intelligence assignments, scanning media sources for industry news and topics that may be of interest for the client. In addition, they develop tactical and strategic recommendations on what to do, formulating concrete initiatives on how to 'spin' the media. In doing so, they draw on their know-how and evaluate information scenarios which can serve both to prevent crises and ensure consistent reputation management.

Leading European media monitoring players in this space are Meltwater News and Cision. Meltwater News has according to the Norwegian company registry annual revenue of ca. €6.5 million. Cision is a publicly traded company quoted on the Nordic Exchange and has approx. 20 000 shareholders. The company has operations in 13 countries, around 2,700 employees and a turnover of ca. €240 million. Similar to the paid search database market, each European media landscape has regional players specializing in outsourced media monitoring services.

In addition, next generation media monitoring companies, such as Imooty.eu are emerging, offering new and innovative services for finding and sharing information.

To find out more check out www.imooty.eu