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Updated: May 2010

The purpose of this document is to state the policy for clients citing comScore Media Metrix, comScore Video Metrix, qSearch, comScore Marketer or other comScore data in the public domain. The policy is as follows:

  • Companies using comScore data for promotional purposes must be current comScore clients unless said data have already been placed into the public domain by an authorized party and are accurate. In this context, public domain includes comScore Web sites, comScore press releases and/or articles in the media. Even in such situations, non-clients are required to comply with other relevant usage guidelines as detailed below.
  • Clients must notify and seek the approval of their Client Service contact(s) and/or the comScore Marketing Communications team before publishing any comScore data. The Client Service contact must send all requests for approval to the head of Marketing Communications for clearance.
  • Citations of rank must mention the ranking in some context, such as a category. If the client refers to a category other than as defined by comScore, the ranking must be prominently footnoted as follows: *XYZ category as custom-defined by (Client Name).
  • Any “custom” (syndicated or proprietary) measures or reports from which data are quoted must be appropriately referenced as such through footnotes. Example: *Custom research conducted for (Client Name) by comScore Media Metrix, (Month Year). If a client does not wish to note in its press release all URLs (syndicated and proprietary) that compose a custom entity or report, then comScore reserves the right to share the definition with inquiring clients and news media.
  • If a client refers to a specific, standard comScore Media Metrix report, whether custom or syndicated, the report must be appropriately cited using the proper name of the report. Example: The “weekly flash” should be titled comScore Media Metrix Weekly Flash Report.
  • Proper data periods and measures must be noted in all client releases.
  • Specific and accurate entity descriptions in the citation must be consistent with the labels used in comScore Media Metrix – e.g. “Match.com” vs. “Match Sites”, whichever appears in the table.
  • Rankings may not be based on Unified Digital Measurement (UDM) or non-UDM sub-sets of a category (e.g. “XYZ is the #1 ranked UDM site in the Sports category” when it is ranked #5 overall in the category).
  • As of the release of May 2010 data, UDM reporting is the official public source of record for individual site data and category rankings in all markets. In markets where both UDM and panel-only data are available for a particular time period, panel data may be used for informational purposes but should not be referred to in any public communications.
  • Clients should avoid making claims of inorganic growth (whether referring to rates of growth or moves within a ranking) that are primarily attributable to the adoption of the UDM methodology, wherever possible. However, in some cases clients will only be able to compare UDM to non-UDM data when referring to growth trends. Such instances are permitted, provided that the growth trend is accompanied by a footnote indicating the following: “[Entity] transitioned to comScore’s UDM methodology in [date]. Data trend is based on a comparison of UDM to [non/partial] UDM data and may include inorganic growth due to the change in methodology.”
  • Clients may refer to their Total Universe audience estimates, either at the aggregate level or for individual media channels. Such references must be sourced to the comScore Total Universe report and may not be either ranked or compared to other entities. (During the beta period, any references to Total Universe data must be accompanied with a footnote indicating the data is currently in beta.)
  • Clients who quote comScore data alongside other data sources must clearly distinguish the different data sets (either those of comScore and another data provider or different comScore data sets, such as standard and custom categories).
  • comScore Media Metrix data should be referenced as provided by an online audience measurement or ratings service, not a “survey” or “study,” unless a study or survey component was specifically involved in the research.
  • comScore employees may not be quoted making promotional comments in client press releases. We must maintain our standing as an objective, third party measurement standard and cannot appear to endorse one client over another. There may be specific exceptions in which inclusion does not jeopardize our objective standing (e.g. industry associations such as the OPA, IAB or NAA that commission comScore research for the benefit of an entire industry or sector). comScore’s CEO or Chairman must authorize such exceptions.
  • Clients who wish to include a description of comScore in press releases may do so. The most recent comScore Company Information may be found in the press area of our Web site: www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
  • Any inclusion of comScore Marketing Solutions data must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate CMS team. Such data must specifically be attributed to the division that produced it. Such citations also need to be reviewed by the Marketing Communications department.
  • comScore corporate and business unit names are trademarks and should be correctly spelled accordingly. This includes the proper use of capitalization, even at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph. For example:
  • comScore, Inc.
  • comScore Media Metrix
  • comScore qSearch 2.0
  • comScore Marketer
  • comScore Marketing Solutions
  • comScore Survey Solutions