YouGov

What YouGov does

YouGov plc is a London-headquartered, London Stock Exchange-listed global market research and data analytics group founded in 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi. The company operates a proprietary always-on online panel of more than 30 million members worldwide and sells consumer-intelligence, brand-tracking, election-modeling, and custom research services to enterprises, governments, media organizations, and academic institutions across the Americas, Europe, the UK, and Asia Pacific.

The core platform comprises YouGov Crunch (a data analytics platform with natural-language AI agents for dataset exploration), YouGov Profiles (audience profiling), YouGov Surveys (self-serve to full-service custom research), Brand Health Tracking, Competitor Monitoring, and the Lottery Survey System (LSS) election model. YouGov expanded its panel capabilities via the €315M acquisition of GfK's consumer panel business in 2023 (strengthening US FMCG reach) and added generative-AI capabilities through the £4.5M acquisition of Yabble in August 2024. Reported revenue of £194.8M in H1 2026 (+2% YoY) with statutory operating profit up 14% indicates modest top-line growth alongside margin expansion; FY2026 adjusted operating profit guidance sits at £52-56M.

The business model combines subscription-based data and analytics (YouGov Crunch, Profiles, Brand Tracking) with project-based custom research and self-serve SMB survey products, distributed through direct enterprise sales, the self-serve platform, and recurring media partnerships (BBC, CBS News, Reuters Institute). Marketing is primarily driven by thought-leadership content, published reports, and earned media coverage that simultaneously recruits new panelists and demonstrates credibility to commercial clients.

Name

YouGov

Legal name

YouGov PLC

Website

https://yougov.co.uk

Company type

Public

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

YouGov plc is a London-listed global market research and data analytics company operating a 30M+ member online panel, selling subscription consumer intelligence, brand tracking, election modeling, and custom research to enterprises, governments, media, and academia worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research and Consumer Data Analytics

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

akta.pro primary industry

Quantitative Research & Survey Analytics (Survey Design, Sampling, Statistical Modeling) (MPAAALAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Consumer data analytics
• Brand tracking solutions
• Opinion polling
• Data analytics platform

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Data Solutions & Analytics: Subscription-based access to YouGov's data analytics platform, brand tracking services, and consumer insight products for enterprise and commercial clients
2. Custom Research Surveys: Market research services ranging from self-serve survey tools to full-service custom research engagements conducted by YouGov researchers

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

YouGov provides online market research, data analytics, and consulting services through a proprietary global panel of 30+ million members. Its core offerings include the YouGov Crunch data analytics platform, YouGov Profiles consumer intelligence tool, self-serve and full-service research surveys, brand health tracking, and competitor monitoring, sold to commercial brands, governments, media organizations, and academic institutions.

Product overview

YouGov is a global market research and data analytics company operating a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offerings include YouGov Crunch (data analytics platform), YouGov Profiles (consumer intelligence), YouGov Surveys (research platform), and Brand Health Tracking. The company expanded through acquisitions including GfK's Consumer Panel business (2023) and Yabble's generative AI technology (2024). Recent developments include AI agent functionality added to Crunch enabling natural language data analysis. YouGov also operates specialized products like the Lottery Survey System for election modeling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• YouGov Crunch Data analytics platform providing access to YouGov's global panel data, enabling users to analyze datasets with cross-tabulation, filtering, and natural language AI-driven queries.
• YouGov Profiles

Quantifiable outcome

• LSS election model achieved 0.88 percentage point average error in Denmark election
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UNA Sports GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026Landmark consumer research report on US action sports audience, surveying 411 adults and teens on interest in team-based league concept built on X Games platform.
• MeilleurtauxminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026French mortgage broker partnership for study on French attitudes toward state welfare and retirement planning.
• World Gold CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2026Annual central bank survey on gold reserves covering 74 central banks worldwide. YouGov conducted the research measuring gold buying intentions and reserve management attitudes.
• Reuters Institute for the Study of JournalismcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2026Annual Digital News Report surveying nearly 100,000 people in 48 countries on media consumption habits, news sources, and trust in journalism.
• SalesforcecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2026Global survey partnership examining AI attitudes among desk workers across four continents. YouGov conducted research for Salesforce exploring worker skepticism toward AI, trust levels, and adoption barriers.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 May 2026National caregiver poll on communication barriers for adults with communication difficulties. YouGov conducted poll of 522 caregivers highlighting safety concerns from communication breakdowns.
• Carnegie Endowment for International PeacecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 April 2026Indian American Attitudes Survey 2026 examining political sentiments, policy concerns, and emigration attitudes among Indian Americans.
• NIITcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 April 2026India Skills Gap Report 2026 partnership examining digital, data, and cybersecurity skills requirements across 3,500 respondents in India.
• BBC SportcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Joint research partnership on women's sport fandom showing 24 million UK people now identify as women's sport fans, with women's rugby union fandom growing 66%.
• South Australian PremiercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2026State election polling projecting Labor set for record win in South Australia, predicting One Nation surge to second place.
• DSP Mutual FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2026Winvestor Pulse 2025-26 survey covering 5,050 urban investors in 13 Indian cities on investment behaviors and women's financial independence.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ipsos: Global market research and polling firm offering brand tracking, consumer research, public opinion, and analytics. Ipsos is the most direct comparison to YouGov across services, customers, and methodology.
• Mintel: Independent market research firm providing consumer insights, category reports, and brand intelligence, often competing with YouGov for the same enterprise brand and product-marketing budgets.
• Gallup: Long-established public opinion polling and analytics firm; directly comparable to YouGov's political polling, public-affairs research, and workforce/engagement analytics offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Kantar: One of the world's largest market research and consumer insight groups, with deep panels (including acquired Toluna) and brand-tracking products directly comparable to YouGov's offerings, but at much larger scale.
• NielsenIQ: Global consumer intelligence and measurement company with consumer panels and analytics offerings overlapping with YouGov Crunch and YouGov Profiles, particularly in FMCG and retail.
• GfK: Global market research organization; YouGov acquired its consumer panel business in 2023, but the broader GfK entity remains a comparable in market research, consumer intelligence, and brand measurement.
• Qualtrics: Experience management and survey analytics platform owned by Silver Lake/CPPIB; competes with YouGov's enterprise brand-tracking and AI-driven analytics with a broader XM/VoC portfolio.

Emerging players

• SurveyMonkey: Self-serve online survey platform with an integrated panel market and growing AI analytics features; competes with YouGov Surveys and Crunch in the self-serve/SMB segment.
• Cint: Panel exchange and survey technology provider supplying sample to market research firms including YouGov; competes indirectly through its own consumer insights platform and direct panel offerings.
• Pew Research Center: Nonpartisan research organization producing high-profile public opinion polling and digital news research (e.g., Reuters Institute Digital News Report partnership) directly comparable to YouGov's political and media research.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/YouGov
• Facebookfacebook.com/YouGov
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/109731
• Instagraminstagram.com/yougov

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A15 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about YouGov