Up easy street for Compete

London-based market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has purchased Compete for $75 million. Another $75 million in possible earn-outs through 2010 brings the acquisition price to $150 million.

Compete's '07 revenue was $14.9 million, 50 percent higher than the previous year. The company took a loss of $4.5 million last year after investing in panel and industry expertise, according to a TNS release.

Compete conducts continuous analysis of internet clickstream data from close to 2 milllion people, weighted to match the US population. The data is used to measure online purchasing behavior and the effectiveness of online ads.

Compete.com competes with Alexa, Quantcast, and ComScore. All are free to use, with the exception of comScore.

Compete and Alexa attract close to the same amount of US visitors every month, at 727,000 and 758,000 respectively. Quantcast generates double the amount, 1.9 million unique visitors.