YouGov
International market research, opinion polling, audience-data and analytics company.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
YouGov is a United Kingdom-based international market research and data analytics company built around online polling, a large proprietary respondent panel, and continuously updated consumer and public-opinion data. Founded in London in 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi, the company initially became known for Internet-based political polling and for publishing commentary and survey findings through its own platform and media relationships. It subsequently developed into a broader research and data business serving companies, media organizations, public institutions, sports organizations and political stakeholders. The company’s core operating model combines online surveys with demographic weighting and statistical modelling. YouGov recruits participants to an online panel, collects responses on political, social and commercial subjects, and adjusts the resulting data to improve representativeness. Its panel has been described as comprising more than 24 million people worldwide. This infrastructure supports both one-off commissioned studies and recurring products that allow clients to monitor changes in public attitudes, brand perception, purchasing behavior, media use and audience composition. YouGov BrandIndex, launched in 2005, is one of the company’s best-known offerings. It tracks daily public perceptions of consumer brands across measures such as awareness, consideration, quality, value and reputation. YouGov Profiles provides audience segmentation and media-consumption analysis, while YouGov Signal combines survey findings with digital and social-media indicators. YouGov Safe was introduced to enable consenting participants to share selected behavioral or transaction-related data in a privacy-conscious, GDPR-oriented framework. The company also operates specialist offerings for sports measurement and for the analysis and activation of research data. Political polling remains an important part of YouGov’s public profile. The company has conducted election and referendum research in the United Kingdom and other markets, including work for media partners. Its use of multilevel regression and post-stratification, generally known as MRP, attracted particular attention during the 2017 United Kingdom general election, when its model forecast a hung parliament while many rival polls anticipated a larger Conservative majority. YouGov has continued to apply modelling and weighting techniques to election research, although, like all polling organizations, it faces scrutiny over sampling, turnout assumptions, questionnaire design and interpretation. YouGov expanded internationally through a mixture of acquisitions and organic growth. Purchases and investments brought operations or specialist capabilities in the Middle East, the United States, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey and New Zealand. Acquisitions of firms including Polimetrix, Zapera, Psychonomics, Galaxy Research, LINK Marketing Services, KnowledgeHound and Yabble broadened the company’s geographic footprint and added capabilities in political research, consumer panels, research-data management and generative artificial intelligence. The acquisition of GfK’s consumer panel division, completed in 2024, significantly strengthened YouGov’s consumer-panel activities in Europe. The business is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol YOU. Its leadership has included co-founder Stephan Shakespeare, who served as chief executive during two periods and became non-executive chair before returning as chief executive in February 2025. YouGov is a member of the British Polling Council. Its public reputation rests on the scale and speed of its panel-based data, while continuing debate concerns the limitations of opt-in online samples, the effects of incentives, model assumptions and the independence and transparency of political polling decisions.
History
YouGov was established in the United Kingdom in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi. In its early period it combined Internet polling with a media-oriented editorial presence, publishing contributions from prominent commentators and developing a profile in political research. Peter Kellner joined in 2001, later becoming chairman and then president. YouGov became publicly traded in April 2005 through a listing on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market. That year it introduced YouGov BrandIndex, a daily tracking product designed to measure public perceptions of consumer brands. The company’s first major growth phase relied heavily on acquisitions. In 2006 it bought Dubai-based Siraj, giving it an entry point into Middle Eastern research. In 2007 it acquired Polimetrix in the United States, Scandinavian firm Zapera and German company Psychonomics. Further North American expansion followed with the purchases of Clear Horizons in 2009 and Harrison Group in 2010. YouGov also acquired a minority interest in sports-media data company SMG Insight in 2010 and later purchased the remaining shares in 2018, rebranding the operation YouGov Sport. Political polling became especially visible in the period surrounding the 2010 United Kingdom general election, when YouGov held an exclusive arrangement to provide political polling to The Times. The company also created TellYouGov, an early effort to combine social-media signals with polling analysis. Its later social and digital-data work developed into products such as YouGov Signal. In 2011, YouGov acquired Definitive Insights in the United States and opened an office in Paris, marking a combination of acquisition-led and organic international expansion. The company entered the Asia-Pacific region in 2014 through the acquisition of Decision Fuel. It also launched YouGov Profiles, a segmentation platform that organized information about media behavior, interests and audience characteristics. During the 2010s, YouGov increased its use of sophisticated statistical methods in election research. It applied multilevel regression and post-stratification during the 2016 EU referendum and later used the approach in election modelling. Its 2017 United Kingdom general-election projection became a notable case: unlike many forecasts predicting a substantial Conservative majority, YouGov projected a hung parliament and identified several unexpected constituency results. YouGov continued building its Australian presence through the 2017 acquisition of Galaxy Research, which had conducted state and federal political polling. In 2018, the company consolidated its sports-data activity under YouGov Sport. It entered Turkey in 2020 after acquiring Istanbul-based online research agency Wizsight. During the COVID-19 pandemic, YouGov produced extensive public-opinion research, including a collaboration with Imperial College London examining attitudes and behavior related to the virus and government measures. A new acquisition cycle in 2021 added Canada-based Charlton Insights, Swiss company LINK Marketing Services, Australian firm Faster Horses, financial-data specialist Lean App and Rezonence, which connected access to premium content with survey participation. YouGov also launched YouGov Safe, intended to let participants share selected online-behavior data with consent and within a GDPR-oriented framework. These moves reflected a strategy of expanding beyond conventional questionnaires toward a broader, integrated data ecosystem. In July 2023, YouGov agreed to buy GfK’s consumer-panel division. The transaction was completed in January 2024, alongside a separate acquisition of KnowledgeHound in Chicago, which added research-data search and management capabilities. In August 2024, YouGov acquired New Zealand generative-AI company Yabble. The company has also discussed the possibility of a United States listing or secondary listing, although it indicated that such a move was not being considered in the near term. Leadership has changed over time. Shakespeare served as chief executive from 2010 to 2023, then became non-executive chair, before returning as CEO in February 2025 and replacing Steve Hatch. Kellner left the company’s chair and later broader leadership roles in 2016. YouGov remains an active public company and a member of the British Polling Council. Its business now spans political polling, brand measurement, consumer panels, audience intelligence, sports analytics, research technology and data-enabled consulting. Its principal methodological challenge remains the representativeness and reliability of opt-in online samples, particularly when results are used to make high-stakes political, social or cultural claims.
- 2025
Stephan Shakespeare returns as CEO
[1]Shakespeare replaces Steve Hatch as chief executive.
- 2024
GfK panel and KnowledgeHound acquisitions completed
[1]YouGov completes the GfK consumer-panel acquisition and buys KnowledgeHound.
- 2024
Yabble acquisition
[1]YouGov acquires New Zealand generative-AI company Yabble.
- 2021
YouGov Safe launches
[1]The company introduces a consent-based product for collecting selected online-behavior data.
- 2020
Turkey operation and pandemic tracking
[1]YouGov Turkey is established through the Wizsight acquisition, while the company expands COVID-19 public-opinion research.
- 2018
YouGov Sport is formed
[1]After acquiring the remaining interest in SMG Insight, YouGov rebrands the sports-data business as YouGov Sport.
- 2017
Hung-parliament election projection
[1]YouGov’s United Kingdom election model forecasts a hung parliament and several unexpected constituency outcomes.
- 2016
MRP enters public polling work
[1]YouGov uses multilevel regression and post-stratification during the United Kingdom EU referendum.
- 2014
Asia-Pacific entry and Profiles launch
[1]The Decision Fuel acquisition supports regional expansion, while YouGov introduces Profiles for audience segmentation.
- 2007
Major international acquisition phase
[1]Acquisitions of Polimetrix, Zapera and Psychonomics expand YouGov in North America and continental Europe.
Products and positioning
A global, panel-based research and analytics provider emphasizing fast, continuously refreshed public-opinion, consumer and audience data.
Brand tracking · 2005
YouGov BrandIndex
A continuously updated brand-perception service based on recurring surveys. BrandIndex tracks public assessments of brands across dimensions such as awareness, consideration, quality, value, reputation and customer satisfaction, allowing clients to compare competitors and monitor changes over time.
Audience segmentation · 2014
YouGov Profiles
An audience-intelligence and segmentation platform that organizes demographic, attitudinal, interest and media-consumption data. It is designed to help marketers and researchers identify groups, understand how they engage with traditional and digital media, and compare audiences across markets.
Digital and social analytics
YouGov Signal
A data product combining survey-based attitudes with digital or social indicators. It extends YouGov’s earlier work on integrating polling and social-media information, helping users examine how public sentiment relates to online behavior and conversation.
Behavioral data research · 2021
YouGov Safe
A consent-oriented service that enables panel members to share selected information about online behavior and, through related capabilities, financial or transaction activity. The product is intended to provide richer behavioral insight while emphasizing participant permission and GDPR-conscious data handling.
Sports research · 2018
YouGov Sport
A specialist sports-data and research business created from YouGov’s ownership of SMG Insight. It provides audience, sponsorship, media and fan insights for sports organizations, rights holders, brands and media businesses.
Online polling and market research
YouGov Surveys
The company’s survey and polling service, using its online panel to collect responses on political, social, cultural and commercial questions. It supports commissioned research as well as publicly released polling and recurring international opinion studies.
Controversies
2025
Questions about online polling used in a report on Generation Z Christianity
Commentators questioned the reliability of YouGov survey data cited in The Quiet Revival, a Bible Society report that suggested increased Christian participation among Generation Z. Criticism focused on opt-in online sampling, participant incentives and discrepancies between the findings and other social-attitudes surveys or church statistics.
2022
Dispute over alleged suppression of a 2017 election poll
Chris Curtis alleged that a YouGov poll showing a more favorable result for Labour had been withheld because of political pressure linked to co-founder Nadhim Zahawi. YouGov denied that political considerations caused the decision, stating that concerns about a skewed sample and methodology were responsible. Peter Kellner acknowledged late methodological changes, while Curtis subsequently withdrew the allegation, accepted YouGov’s explanation and apologized for confusion.
Marketing campaigns
- 2020COVID-19 public response tracking
International
YouGov surveyed populations on attitudes, behavior and responses to coronavirus policies, including work conducted with Imperial College London.
Outcome. Produced recurring international data on public reactions during the pandemic.
- 2016EU referendum polling and MRP modelling
United Kingdom
YouGov publicly applied multilevel regression and post-stratification in research surrounding the United Kingdom’s referendum on European Union membership, helping establish MRP as part of its election and referendum methodology.
Outcome. Expanded the company’s public use of constituency- and subgroup-level statistical modelling.
- 2010The Times election polling partnership
United Kingdom
YouGov entered an exclusive arrangement to provide political polling for The Times ahead of the 2010 United Kingdom general election. The relationship increased the visibility of YouGov’s political research and connected its polling output with a major national media outlet.
Outcome. Established a prominent media distribution channel for YouGov election polling.
Brand decisions
2024
Acquisition of YabbleM&ABackground
YouGov sought to add generative-artificial-intelligence capabilities to its research and analytics platform.
Action taken
YouGov acquired New Zealand-based generative-AI company Yabble.
Aftermath
The acquisition added specialist AI capability to the company’s research technology portfolio.
Acquisition consideration. £4.5 million (August 2024)
2023
Agreement to acquire GfK’s consumer panel divisionM&ABackground
YouGov pursued greater scale in consumer panels and international behavioral research.
Action taken
The company agreed to acquire GfK’s consumer-panel division.
Aftermath
The transaction was completed in January 2024 and strengthened YouGov’s European panel capabilities.
Announced acquisition consideration. €315 million (July 2023 announcement)
2021
Launch of YouGov SafeProduct launchBackground
Survey responses alone provide limited visibility into actual online and transaction behavior.
Action taken
YouGov launched a service allowing consenting participants to contribute selected behavioral data under a privacy-conscious framework.
Aftermath
The product broadened YouGov’s data model from stated attitudes toward observed or connected behavior.
2018
Full ownership and rebranding of SMG InsightStrategyBackground
YouGov had held a minority stake in sports-media data company SMG Insight since 2010.
Action taken
The company acquired the remaining shares and rebranded the business as YouGov Sport.
Aftermath
Sports measurement became a more integrated part of the YouGov product portfolio.
2016
Adoption of MRP for political pollingStrategyBackground
Traditional polling methods faced challenges in estimating geographically detailed election outcomes.
Action taken
YouGov began using multilevel regression and post-stratification in public political polling, first prominently around the EU referendum.
Aftermath
The approach became closely associated with YouGov’s later election modelling, including its 2017 United Kingdom projection.
2005
Launch of YouGov BrandIndexProduct launchBackground
YouGov sought to extend its online polling model beyond politics into recurring commercial brand measurement.
Action taken
The company introduced daily polling intended to track consumer perceptions of brands over time.
Aftermath
BrandIndex became one of YouGov’s signature commercial data products.
Recent events
- Unconfirmed
KLA joins YouGov's global partnerships programme in South Africa[3]
South African market research agency KLA joined YouGov’s global partnerships programme. The agreement gives KLA access to YouGov intellectual property, platforms, product knowledge and research insights, including YouGov Profiles, YouGov BrandIndex and the YouGov Cube.
Sources3 sources
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