Thursday, May 3, 2007

Umbria, PR Newswire Develop Blog-Tracking Tool

Boulder, Colorado-based blog market research firm Umbria has partnered with PR Newswire, a popular business news service, to develop a blog analysis tool that will allow PR Newswire's subscribers to track and interpret consumer comments and feedback, Umbria reported yesterday. The application, called MediaSense Blog Measurement, uses Umbria's proprietary technology to provide a visual assessment of blog conversation tone and participant demographics. Umbria said the tool will help PR Newswire clients determine which consumer segments are most engaged in a discussion, thus enabling those clients to better understand their target markets. Venture backed Umbria develops software used for extracting opinions about products from blogs and other social media, and has received funding from Arrowpath Venture Capital, Sequel Venture Partners, and Vista Ventures.