An idea ahead of its time
The original idea behind Marketagent was ambitious: a fully automated platform for market and opinion research. Customers would be able to independently create questionnaires, draw samples, and conduct studies – right through to reporting and invoicing. Technically, this platform was already fully developed, but the market wasn't ready. Do-it-yourself market research was hardly conceivable for many companies at that time.
Digital Transformation Is Changing Market Research
When the first version of the research platform finally launched, it wasn't met with much enthusiasm. While there was considerable interest, methodological concerns prevailed. With internet penetration at around 40 percent, many considered online market and opinion research problematic, as it only reached a portion of the population.
However, with the rapid growth of the internet, the situation changed quickly. Internet penetration increased year after year, and online research increasingly became the new standard. The advantages were also obvious: short data collection times, flexible study designs, innovative visualization options, and significant cost advantages compared to traditional methods.
"In the beginning, we were often ridiculed in the industry. Many simply couldn't imagine that online research would one day become the standard. Today, it's clear that technological changes can transform entire industries. You just have to have the courage to believe in it early on," summarizes Thomas Schwabl, founder and CEO of Marketagent, his vision.
Research Without Borders
From the outset, Marketagent has had an international focus. The company began building online panels beyond Austria early on. Today, the network comprises over 3.2 million registered consumers in approximately 90 countries, enabling international studies in a wide variety of markets.
Marketagent has always placed particular emphasis on quality and methodological standards. In January 2010, its online panel became the first access pool in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) to receive ISO certification. Recertification according to the current ISO 20252 standard followed in January 2026.
Making Market Research Visible
In addition to further developing its methods, Marketagent is also committed to raising the public profile of market research. One example of this is the Consumer Research Award, which makes the importance of market and opinion research understandable and accessible to a broad public. Marketagent is also currently featured on the PULS 4 start-up show "2 Minutes 2 Million," where we are contributing the voice of the market for the first time and complementing the subjective assessments of investors with objective, representative market research.
25 Years Later: Looking Ahead
Today, Marketagent employs around 30 people at three locations and conducts approximately 1,000 research projects annually for national and international clients.
Even after 25 years, we remain true to our original mission: to drive innovation and explore new avenues in market research. Our team is currently working on synthetic sampling and AI-based in-depth interviews, among other things, to develop new ways of generating insights. Because one thing has been consistently confirmed in 25 years of market research: the only constant is change.