Yahoo! Maktoob Research halts external client work

In a note addressed to “partners”, the team said that the wider change would come into effect on 1 April, but that it was halting external services “including sampling, field & tabs as well as customised research solutions… effective immediately”.

Although new business is no longer being accepted, Yahoo! Maktoob Research said the team remains “committed to honouring all current contracts and projects and will deliver our obligations in accordance with the terms of these agreements.

“We will also be delivering the services that have been set out in proposals sent out in the past 30 days subject to execution of corresponding work orders,” the note said.

“We are very excited to be bringing in research services as a valuable addition to our advertisers and deliver the tools that enable greater measurement of campaigns on Yahoo! Maktoob.”

It is unclear at this stage what impact the refocusing will have on staff working within the Yahoo! Maktoob Research team. The company’s Linkedin profile currently lists 17 staff. Its corporate website is currently offline. A holding page says that it is “under construction”.

A Yahoo! spokesperson confirmed that: “Effective 1 April 2013, Yahoo! Maktoob Research will become fully integrated within our advertising organisation to enable us to better serve our clients and advertising partners and align with our structure across Yahoo! globally. We are excited to add research services to the solutions we currently offer advertisers on Yahoo! Maktoob.”

The spokesperson declined to comment on the cessation of external research services.

Yahoo! Maktoob Research was launched in September 2006 as Maktoob Research, a division of the online community Maktoob. Maktoob and the research team were then acquired by Yahoo! in 2009.

• In related news, Ipsos has said that it is preparing to launch new online research panels in three Middle Eastern countries in the next several months. Its existing panels in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt have been operational for 18 months and are each approaching 100,000 members.