NPD acquires Nielsen’s book information services

Stephen Romano

The Port Washington-based market research agency NPD Group has acquired Nielsen’s U.S. market information and research services for the book industry, the company announced Saturday.

NPD will offer sales tracking for physical and digital books, insights into print and digital preferences and data on buyer demographics, a news release said.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition includes U.S.-based BookScan, a service that tracks the sales of English language books, and PubTrack Digital, a service that offers digital market data based on information from publishers. PubTrack Higher Education, PubTrack Christian, Books and Consumers, PubEasy and Pubnet were all included in the deal, too.

“Industry expertise is a hallmark of NPD, and we are excited to add services for the book industry,” said NPD’s president and chief operating officer, Karyn Schoenbart. “Like many of our industries, publishing is experiencing rapid and dramatic change. By combining data and industry expertise, we will be able to give the industry a winning advantage in understanding and anticipating trends.”

Nielsen will provide NPD BookScan and the related U.S. services operation support during the transition period, the release said.

Nielsen will also continue to own and operate Nielsen Book in nine countries as well as in any other international expansion markets.

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