UKOM

What UKOM does

UKOM (UK Online Measurement) is the UK industry standards body that defines and governs the standard for online audience measurement across PC, tablet and smartphone. Founded in 2009 and jointly owned by three trade organizations (AOP, IAB UK, and ISBA), with the IPA serving in an advisory capacity, UKOM operates as a Joint Industry Currency (JIC) whose endorsement is required for any measurement solution to function as the neutral UK benchmark. Its core product, Ipsos iris, was launched in January 2021 after a competitive RFP process, replacing the previous Comscore-based approach and is delivered by Ipsos as the sole research partner under a contract endorsed to 2027.

The Ipsos iris solution uses a hybrid methodology that combines a mobile-first single-source panel of 10,000 people and 25,000 devices with machine-driven census data collection, enabling deduplicated cross-device audience measurement. It provides daily, weekly, monthly, and time-of-day reporting, with granular audience segmentation including geography, lifestyle, ethnicity, and age demographics, and supporting video insights and YouTube data integration. The technology is not UKOM's own build; it is operated by an Ipsos team of 60-plus data scientists, engineers, analysts, and commercial staff, with UKOM providing governance, endorsement, and stakeholder oversight.

UKOM's revenue model is subscription-based, generated through endorsement arrangements and industry subscriptions for Ipsos iris data access. Subscribers include publishers, agencies, and government bodies, with the data embedded into industry planning platforms such as IPA TouchPoints, PAMCo, and agency tools (Havas Converged, Wavemaker Maximize AI, Publicis Media), as well as programmatic activation platforms like Ozone. The organization is led by CEO Ian Dowds and Chair Linda Smith (who assumed the dual role in May 2026 following Iain Jacob's departure), and runs marketing primarily through thought leadership content, the quarterly Ace Awards program, and engagement with trade bodies. UKOM does not generate revenue in the traditional commercial sense, as it is structured as a membership-funded governance body.

Name

UKOM

Legal name

UKOM Ltd.

Website

https://ukom.uk.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UKOM is the UK industry standards body, jointly owned by AOP, IAB UK, and ISBA, that governs the UK standard for online audience measurement. It endorses Ipsos iris, a hybrid panel-plus-census measurement solution used by publishers, agencies, and regulators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media Research and Audience Measurement Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPABAOAA

National TV & Cross-Platform Audience Measurement Panels

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Broadcasting (TV & Radio)/Broadcast Measurement, Ratings & Audience Analytics

Keywords

• Online audience measurement
• Industry measurement standards
• Cross-device measurement
• Media research governance
• Digital audience currency

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industry Subscription/Endorsement Fees: UKOM operates as an industry standards body. Revenue is generated through endorsement arrangements and industry subscriptions for Ipsos iris data. Publishers, agencies, and government bodies subscribe to access UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris data.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

UKOM defines and governs the UK industry standard for online audience measurement across PC, tablet and smartphone. Its core endorsed product is Ipsos iris, a hybrid audience measurement solution combining a single-source panel of 10,000 people and 25,000 devices with machine-driven census data analysis, providing daily, weekly, monthly and time-of-day reporting. Supporting offerings include monthly Online Market Overview (OMO) reports, Top 20 brand rankings, the Ace Awards program, and methodology white papers.

Product overview

UKOM (UK Online Measurement) is the UK industry standards body that defines and governs the UK standard for online audience measurement across PC, tablet and smartphone. The core product is Ipsos iris, a hybrid audience measurement solution combining a single-source panel of 10,000 people and 25,000 devices with machine-driven analysis. UKOM also provides supporting products including the Online Market Overview (OMO) monthly report, the Top 20s ranking, the Ipsos iris Ace Awards recognition program, and the Synthetic Data Gets Real white paper on methodology. The Ipsos iris solution was reset from previous measurement (January 2021) and expanded to include video insights from 2023 and YouTube data integration from 2024.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ipsos iris The UK industry standard for online audience measurement across PC, tablet and smartphone, endorsed by UKOM. Combines a single-source panel of 10,000 people and 25,000 devices with machine-driven census analysis, providing daily, weekly, monthly and time-of-day reporting, enhanced audience demographics, lifestyle and ethnicity segmentation, and video insights for publishers, agencies and government bodies.
• Online Market Overview (OMO) Monthly report providing a top-line snapshot of the UK population's online behaviour across computers, tablets and smartphones, using UKOM-endorsed data from Ipsos iris.
• Ipsos iris Ace Awards Quarterly awards program launched in 2023 recognising and celebrating UK agency and publisher team members who effectively use UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris data in their work.
• Top 20s Monthly ranking of the UK's top 20 online group properties by audience, based on UKOM Ipsos iris monthly data, covering a UK internet population base of 52.9 million people (15+).
• Synthetic Data Gets Real White Paper UKOM white paper exploring the origins, applications and development of synthetic data sets and their use in audience measurement within Ipsos iris, focusing on people-centric measurement to drive actionable insight.

Quantifiable outcome

• UK is on track to be first market globally to exceed 70% of total spend via digital media
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.

• Google/YouTubecoreTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2024Google partnered with Ipsos iris and UKOM to integrate YouTube data into the Ipsos iris platform, enabling enhanced measurement of YouTube audiences within the UK industry standard framework.
• IpsoscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2021Ipsos is the sole research provider delivering UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris online audience measurement solution. The partnership involves a large team spanning data scientists, engineers, analysts, and commercial staff. Ipsos iris uses a hybrid methodology combining panel data with machine-driven census analysis.
• PAMCo (Publisher Audience Measurement Company)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019PAMCo integrates UKOM-endorsed online audience measurement from Ipsos iris with print readership data, enabling cross-media planning across print and digital for published media brands.
• IAB UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009IAB UK is one of three co-owners of UKOM (along with AOP and ISBA). IAB represents digital advertisers and agencies, providing industry governance and stakeholder perspective for UK online measurement standards.
• AOP (Association of Online Publishers)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009AOP is one of three co-owners of UKOM. AOP represents UK online publishers, ensuring their interests are represented in the governance of online audience measurement standards.
• ISBA (Incorporated Society of British Advertisers)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009ISBA is one of three co-owners of UKOM. ISBA represents UK advertisers, bringing the advertiser perspective to industry standards governance for online audience measurement.
• IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009IPA serves in an advisory capacity to UKOM's executive board. IPA represents advertising practitioners and integrates UKOM-endorsed data into IPA TouchPoints Channel Planner, the UK's cross-media channel planning tool.
• BBCcoreOthersBBC relies on UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris data for audience measurement and reporting. BBC also announced partnership to create original content for YouTube to reach younger audiences.
• OfcomcoreOthersOfcom uses UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris data for regulatory oversight and publishes the annual Online Nation report on UK online behaviour.
• Sky MediakeyTechnology or IntegrationSky Media was first publisher to report off-platform distributed video using Ipsos iris data, working with UKOM and Ipsos on methodology development. Sky's reporting includes content distributed via YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and publishing partners.
• OzonekeyTechnology or IntegrationOzone offers UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris data for programmatic activation, providing premium publisher inventory with trusted audience measurement for advertisers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• GfK: Global market research company with consumer media and audience measurement capabilities. Larger and broader than UKOM, with overlapping customer base among advertisers, agencies, and media owners.
• Nielsen: Global audience measurement leader across TV, radio, digital, and cross-platform. Operates similar panel-and-census hybrid methodology worldwide; larger scale and broader portfolio than UKOM but overlapping capabilities and customer base in UK measurement.
• Kantar: Global market research and audience measurement firm (including Kantar Media). Operates competing audience measurement products and overlapping syndicated research capabilities for advertisers and publishers.

Direct peers

• comscore: US-headquartered digital audience measurement company that was UKOM's previous research provider before being replaced by Ipsos in January 2021. Directly comparable digital audience measurement methodology and customer base.
• JICREG (Joint Industry Committee for Regional Press Research): UK Joint Industry Currency for regional press audience measurement. Operates under the same syndicated industry-owned measurement model as UKOM, making it a structural peer in the JIC ecosystem.
• BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board): UK Joint Industry Currency for television audience measurement, structurally analogous to UKOM with shared industry governance and panel-based measurement. Most directly comparable JIC peer in the UK media measurement ecosystem.
• Ipsos: Global market research firm and sole research provider of the UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris solution. Operates the 60+ person team delivering Ipsos iris data, and is the operational engine behind UKOM's measurement product.
• PAMCo (Publisher Audience Measurement Company): UK cross-media audience measurement body for newsbrands and magazines. Directly integrates UKOM's Ipsos iris online data with print readership, making it both a peer (joint industry currency) and a key distribution partner.
• RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research): UK Joint Industry Currency for radio audience measurement. Operates under the same JIC governance model as UKOM (industry-owned, syndicated panel measurement) and serves a comparable function for a different media channel.

Emerging players

• SimilarWeb: Digital audience and web-traffic measurement company focused on competitive intelligence and publisher analytics. Overlaps with UKOM in digital audience measurement but serves more commercial/competitive use cases rather than industry-currency governance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ukomaps
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ukom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about UKOM