In January 2019, Survey Sampling International (SSI) rebranded itself as Dynata.
Survey Sampling International (SSI), now Dynata, is a market research and data collection company based in Shelton, Connecticut. With 30 offices, 3600 staff members and over 6000 clients worldwide, Dynata is one of the largest data solutions companies in the world. With the ability to reach over 60 million people in over 100 countries, Dynata is one of the very top companies in the market research industry.
History and accolades
In 2000, the firm launched SurveySpot, the company’s first online research panel for USA respondents. From there, they expanded their reach which included other acquisitions, including Opinionlogy in 2011 – the company who ran the Opinion Outpost survey panel.
In their over 40 years of business, Dynata has earned many prestigious awards and certifications. They hold membership in dozens of market research associations and abide by the strict research principles of ESOMAR, CASRO and MRA.
SSI’s acquisition of Instantly
In January of 2016, SSI acquired Instantly, Inc. The addition of Instantly helped assist SSI in their goals of connecting more rapidly with mobile audiences along with increasing their global data and market research technology.
Many of Instantly’s smaller online panels were closed as a result of the acquisition. Members of panels such as MommyTalkSurveys, GratisPoints, WatchandTell.tv, etc. that were closed, were directed to become a member of one of SSI’s proprietary panels such as Opinion Outpost (for those who reside in the USA, Canada, or UK), or their international panel, Opinion World. People specifically interested in participating in mobile surveys should check out Dynata’s mobile app, QuickThoughts.
The acquisition of Instantly was not without hiccups; some members of Instantly panels reported having problems collecting rewards that were pending processing during the acquisition. Although most of these issues seem to have been resolved, members of closed Instantly panels should reach out to SSI (Dynata) at: [email protected] if they’re still experiencing issues with their accounts.
SSI’s merger with Research Now
On October 12, 2017, SSI and Research Now announced their merger. It was mostly business as usual for both Research Now and SSI panels, though SSI did change its name to ‘Research Now SSI’.
SSI Research Now becomes Dynata
In January 2019, SSI Research Now rebranded itself as Dynata. The name was chosen to ‘signify our ongoing commitment to revitalize data-driven marketing…’ though was likely also chosen in part as ‘SSI Research Now’ was a mouthful, and was just the names of the two brands stuck together in a pretty un-imaginative way.
Getting too many calls from Dynata?
If you are receiving phone calls from Dynata that you would like to opt out of, please visit this link on Dynata’s website for more information: https://www.dynata.com/called-by-dynata/.
You can opt-out of calls by either e-mailing the company or by calling them directly.
Dynata continues to consolidate panels
In 2019, it was announced that as of June 30 2019, SurveySpot would be shutting down. Prospective members of SurveySpot are being directed to OpinionWorld.
In August 2020, Dynata closed their New Zealand focused panel, Smile City, as well as ProOpinion (for US business professionals). Users interested in these panels are directed to Opinion World.
Around a similar time, Dynata re-designed both Opinion Outpost and Opinion World with fresh new designs, the introduction of loyalty levels, and more.
Main areas of focus
Some of Dynata’s main areas of focus are: online panels, mobile sampling, and telephone surveying. If you have been contacted to participate in a telephone survey and would like to be taken off Dynata’s list, please do so here.
Dynata’s current survey panel offerings
Dynata manages their proprietary online survey panels primarily under the names Opinion Outpost, OpinionWorld, OneOpinion and QuickThoughts.
Opinion Outpost
Take online and mobile surveys in exchange for $10 payments to your PayPal account, or choose to receive an Amazon e-voucher or iTunes e-gift card instead. Rewards are typically awarded within a few hours of request.
Opinion World
Participate in online surveys and earn PayPal payments or gift cards to Amazon, various restaurants, movie vouchers, and more. Opinion World is Dynata’s international panel and is open to residents of most countries worldwide.
OneOpinion
Participate in online surveys and product testing to earn PayPal payments, Amazon vouchers, or a pre-paid credit card. OneOpinion’s mainly focuses on households in the USA.
QuickThoughts
Download the QuickThoughts app to your phone and take mobile surveys in exchange for Amazon or iTunes e-gift cards. The app currently has millions of downloads on Google Play and on iTunes and is a popular survey app.
Dynata also operates iPoll and e-Rewards. Smaller and lesser-known panels they operate include: MyOpinions (Australia).
» Find all survey panels operated by Dynata
Sources:
https://www.dynata.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_Sampling_International
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/announcing-new-name-and-brand-research-now-ssi-is-now-dynata-300778014.html
My dads phone rings with bs from 8am to after 9PM. I take it off the hook until he wakes up and then I screen his calls… that appear to be in state… and answer/hang up. I have added his number to the national do not call list but it’s all bs. Next step is to tell CenturyLink if they can’t stop it the phone service will be shut off. Paying to be solicited… I think not. I feel the same about his cable service… paying for a ton of commercials trying to sell some crap… like we dont know it’s out there. Maybe if more people made moves instead of just commenting things would start to change… until then… ring ring ring!
I have been called numerous times and I asked what their survey was about. He would not answer and kept asking for my date of birth. When I said I would not give them my birth date, he hung up on me. I worked for Gallup (we do honest surveys) and we were always to be professional. This would not be allowed there. The rudeness has prompted me to block their number.
how do i go about contacting or calling them as i have a problem. i can not login as i forgot it and when i try to change it the window keeps coming back the same. it will not let me as can not put in the right password j.j.
I linked my number to my cell phone then I block the number using my phone
Answer the phone call, and set the phone down and walk away! Go back half an hour later and they will probably be gone. Enough of that might keep them away??
No. By answering you tell them you are a legit number so they sell/share your valid number with hundreds of their marketing friends.
I have the same problem. They have NUMEROUS NUMBERS and if you block one they call on another number! They MUST BE QUACKS DUE TO THEIR UNPROFESSIONAL WAY OF DOING BUSINESS! DO NOT SEND ME ANY EMAILS DYNATA.
I agree with you Ron. People, DO NOT ANSWER THE PHONE…THIS GIVES THE SMILING CALLER “I’VE GOT A LIVE NUMBER AND I WILL KEEP CALLING THEM” WATCH OUT PEOPLE THEY HAVE NUMEROUS NUMBERS. BUT REMEMBER DO NOT ANSWER THE CALL. JUST BLOCK THEM.
I assume that most or some of these complainants are survey takers. If every you were filling out a survey that asked you to confirm your first, last name, and mailing address to make sure they have your date/records up to date, don’t do it. This is how SSI gets your info. As a part of any survey panel they would email you a personal email to the email address you gave them when signing up. This information would not be asked of you as a random part of a survey. They throw this in to catch you off guard, as some poor unsuspecting souls will just go with the flow and supply it.
Once they get your name and address it’s easy to get your phone number. There’s even listings for some VOIPs now. So be very careful. Being on the do not call list doesn’t help at all these days.
In any case once you supply this info you’ll get a message stating that you don’t quality for the survey… Of course not, they’ve gotten what they wanted and are off and running with it.
I never put in my info because I that when taking a legit survey, your answers are anonymous. So they will not ask for PII. Only surveys that might ask you to do an in home test of a product will ask you for this. They will plainly state BEFORE hand that this info might be asked of you should you qualify to test the product.
I take a screenshot of all most surveys before staring so I know the survey number. Then if I get to a page that looks suspicious, asking for PII, I take a screenshot of that too. Then I email all this info to the survey company which featured the survey. They have no idea that SSI and other unethical companies are doing this. In fact some of the companies I take surveys that ask for this info.
I’ve run into quite a few of SSI’s surveys asking me for my PII. Fed up I decided to give them their own info and input their VP’s name, company address and phone number. Let them call and aggravate themselves.
Should you, in the course of taking a survey, be asked for you PII look to at the bottom or top of the address or in the web address bar to see if it’s an SSI survey. If so give them the following name, address and phone number:
Tom Johnson
5800 Tennyson Parkway
Plano, Texas 75024
214-365-5000
Let them relentlessly call and ask for him. For those who have asked, to no avail, for their number to be taking off their calling list you can call this number or send them a certified letter ( So they can’t deny receiving it.) instructing them to cease all calls/ contact.
For anyone getting these and other telemarketing calls use the following method for taking legal action or just scaring them into stopping:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/206972/How_to_Sue_Telemarketers_and_Win.html
or
https://www.wikihow.com/Politely-Deal-with-Telemarketers
We have been called 5 times today! I finally answered and asked them WHY they keep on calling since we’re on the DO NOT CALL list…..in frustration I have filed a complaint with the FCC….
Correcting above comment. SSI I called me THIRD evening in a row, this evening call was at 8.29pm. Sent e-mail to opt out but they still called. I want them to stop. If anybody knows how, let me know.
Depending on your telephone Carrier you *may* be able to request that they block any telephone calls with the Caller ID of “SSI”. Additionally, some Carriers will block specific telephone numbers. They don’t advertise this service because it’s a PITA for them and reduces their revenue.
I totally agree with above comments.
I have been called by this company many times a week for the past month, and the last time I actually stayed on the phone and put my best effort into understanding convoluted legal code about to be passed in the state legislator from a listless and heavy Philippino accent. It was like being read the U.S. Constitution by Siri, she had no idea what she was saying and couldn’t care less. She told me that she was very concerned with my opinion, which is b.s. because this is a private company selling my information for a profit. This was never explained, which is highly unethical in conducting surveys to misrepresent your purpose. You can’t just say ‘this is SSI’ and not explain what it is. When I told her I couldn’t follow complicated legal code over the phone she told me she cared about my opinion and then hung up. I don’t know how they got my number and then harassed me, but this company is awful and needs to be stopped.
Going thru the same experience, don’t know how they got our home number and every time we block the number, they call from a different one, and it’s always after 7-10pm. We are super frustrated, that we started leaving the land line open so we don’t hear the phone. Looking for ways to completely get them out of our reach.
Big mistake answering the phone. Surveys are long, badly designed and probably used for social engineering. They will keep you on the phone a long time asking questions about elections that are not real, then slip in questions asking for personal information like your age, your name and if the phone number is a mobile or land line.