Rep Data Unveils the First 'No-Fly' List to Combat Survey Fraud in Market Research

Rep Data Launches an Industry-First 'No-Fly' Suppression List to Combat Survey Fraud

In a groundbreaking initiative, Rep Data, a leader in high-quality research data and fraud prevention, has launched the first-ever "No-Fly" list in the market research industry. This innovative list aims to permanently exclude known fraudulent actors from participating in surveys conducted through Rep Data's advanced fraud prevention system, Research Defender.

The introduction of the No-Fly list represents a significant step towards enhancing the integrity of survey data. Patrick Stokes, the Founder and CEO of Rep Data, emphasized the problem stating, "No one outside of our team has a clue how many times these same bad actors are popping up across the same sample sources over and over again, regardless of which source you're leveraging. The No-Fly list is a win for all researchers."

With the ability to monitor and analyze 3 billion survey scans from nearly 200 sample sources over the past year, Rep Data is uniquely positioned to create and uphold this suppression list. Currently, the company processes approximately 15 million survey scans daily, ensuring that researchers can trust the quality of the data they are receiving.

Vignesh Krishnan, the CTO at Rep Data, noted the challenges researchers face: "Even if a respondent is taking your survey through a first-party source, you might not know that it's the 267th survey of their day, because it's a bad actor equipped to game the system to reap incentives at high volumes." He added, “The industry is messy, and the No-Fly list addition to Rep Data's Research Defender fraud prevention suite helps researchers clean it all up for their projects, permanently."

To underscore the importance of such a suppression list, Dr. Steven Snell, Head of Research at Rep Data, conducted a study involving 1,928 respondents from various prominent sample sources. Instead of blocking low-quality respondents as is typically done, he allowed them into the survey. The results were alarming: 31% of the responses were identified as fraudulent, with an additional 26% classified as “good-looking fraud.” This latter category posed a significant challenge, as it would have been nearly impossible to detect their poor quality using traditional human-supervised or even AI-focused data cleaning methods.

Stokes reaffirmed the company's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of quality, mentioning the continuous improvements made to Research Defender, which is recognized as a leading product in survey fraud detection. He described a recent incident where they identified a new fraudulent trend that involved mixing and matching IP addresses and device identifiers to manipulate survey responses. The team was able to mitigate this emerging threat swiftly, showcasing Rep Data's proactive approach in maintaining data integrity.

"Now, we're taking it a step further by blacklisting bad actors permanently with our No-Fly list," Stokes said, highlighting the company’s ongoing dedication to quality and reliability. Rep Data’s offerings are tailored to facilitate the needs of market research agencies, consultancies, and Fortune 500 corporations looking to acquire fraud-free data at scale.

Rep Data's innovative solutions include the Research Desk, a centralized DIY sampling platform designed to enhance efficiency and improve data quality, and Research Defender, which conducts an impressive 2.9 billion security scans annually. This ensures a robust protective measure for data integrity across the market research landscape.

As the market research industry continuously evolves, initiatives like Rep Data’s No-Fly list set a precedent, encouraging higher standards and accountability. For more information about Rep Data and their offerings, visit www.repdata.com.

Through their commitment to quality data and tech-enabled solutions, Rep Data is reshaping the landscape of market research, enabling insights professionals to operate with greater confidence and deliver results that drive faster, reliable business decisions.