Every month, you or someone in your company might receive several emails from unknown research firms touting their latest “studies.” These reports have generic titles like Global Loyalty Management Market: Forecast to 2030 or Sustainability Market Monitor Industry Outlook 2025. It sounds important. It looks important. So you open it and see it features a “deep dive” into a business-critical market with an executive summary full of your boss’s favorite buzzwords: transformation, engagement, AI, market share, consumer trends and ROI.
In the report preview, you scan the logos in the very official-looking matrix of key industry players: your brand isn't there. But your main competitors are. What’s worse, your CMO has just seen this report on a newswire.
Panic ensues. So, someone in marketing or growth forks out thousands of dollars for what turns out to be "insights" that have been scraped from the web and stuffed into a template. It’s garbage. Afterwards, the pseudo-firm might reach out with an invitation to be included in the report, which comes with a hefty price tag. But let’s strip away the pretense: you’re not buying real research, you’re buying vanity visibility, and that placement holds no value. It’s worthless to anyone except for the company that just bilked you.
If that sounds familiar, you’ve been caught in the research mill trap. And you're not alone.
In recent years, these scams have started popping up in inboxes and syndicated press releases like a game of whack-a-mole—each one with a new name but the same playbook.
A decade ago, these firms were just annoying. Today, they’re a daily nuisance and a growing liability for businesses who mistake them for real analysis. These firms do not provide any value; instead, they provide inaccurate, incomplete and misleading information about vendors and market segments—and brands' positions within them.
The model is always the same: Scrape publicly available data. Give the report a buzzy title and make it sound like the ultimate resource. Package it as “market insights” and charge thousands of dollars to companies who are hungry for industry, competitor and buyer data. Then promote it through free press release services as if it were big news. Unsuspecting companies get duped into buying this “research,” while others are struck by FOMO, thinking these reports are somehow relevant and read by genuine buyers.
Either way, this isn’t research. It’s recycled noise.
Make no mistake, we’re not saying investing in research is bad. We’re saying that a lot of what these research mills are passing off as “intelligence” isn’t even close. It’s filler, it’s flawed and it’s fooling smart people into thinking they’ve got a data-backed strategy when they’re holding spreadsheets and fancy-looking charts full of web-scraped statistics.
One report excerpt that we analyzed stated, “We implement a mix of primary and secondary research for our market estimate and forecast. Secondary research as of our study where we conduct extensive data mining, referring to verified data sources such as independent studies, government and regulatory published material, technical journals, trade magazines and paid data sources. This forms the basis of our estimates.” That same report failed to include interviews with the leading companies within the sector. And we’d know, because we track them.
Maybe those companies didn’t respond to interview requests. Or maybe they weren’t willing to pay for inclusion. Or, more likely, they recognized the scammy nature of the report and used their better judgment.
If you have seen one of these so-called reports, then you’ve seen them all.
But if you haven’t, this is what to look for>>
What’s becoming increasingly troublesome is that these reports appear on newswire services, skewing traditional media monitoring and reporting on clients’ share of voice. In media and brand monitoring, share of voice (SOV) refers to how much coverage or visibility a brand receives in comparison to its competitors within a defined space or period, including: volume of press coverage (e.g., number of articles or mentions); quality and reach (e.g., Tier 1 vs. trade media); sentiment and messaging control (e.g., did your brand own the narrative? In advertising/paid media, SOV is often based on: spend (what percent of the total ad spend in a category is yours?); impressions: What percent of audience exposure are you capturing?
Therefore, you can see why the infiltration of sham research reports not only skews the perception of their value but also skews reporting accuracy.
Clients will ask, “Why aren’t we included in these reports?” And our answer will always be, “Because they’re the equivalent of the content mills and fake media outlets that cropped up everywhere in the 2010s—and they’re the research industry’s equivalent of AI slop.”
Ultimately, if your business is using this type of “intel” to guide product strategy, marketing budget or investor pitches, your decisions may be deeply flawed and should be questioned.
Bad data doesn’t just waste money and time—it facilitates disastrous decisions. It gives you delusions about buyers. It distorts how you see your competitors. It warps your understanding of market trends. It makes you go all-in on misguided methods or second-guess strategies that could work.
Recently, on LinkedIn, Boutique Growth acknowledged the scare tactics that these research mills use to inflate relevance and invoke a panicky business response. We generally agree with their assessment: no one should be letting these alarmist reports dictate their business, and you should always validate external findings with original research.
Where we respectfully disagree with Boutique Growth is about the impact that one report can have. That is, only if it is well-designed research backed by rigor, proven methodology and deep industry knowledge. Companies that are serious about insights to improve their business must invest in the right resources, which are specialized and tailored to their needs.
Good research is a product of real buyer or user feedback. That's why working with a bespoke research firm that understands your industry is crucial. For example, in our own agency’s work with arrivia, we designed, conducted, analyzed and reported on a series of surveys and studies specific to the client’s target audiences, users and customers. We were only able to do this as we had worked with their industry, travel loyalty, for over a decade.
Bona fide research is invaluable to your business. We’ve seen it firsthand with our clients.
So, let’s draw a hard line between the mills and the analysts who matter. Legitimate firms such as Gartner, Forrester and Javelin all vet their sources. They talk to buyers. They cite methods. They use rigor. They offer transparency. Good research is hard, but the big firms have been at this for decades. They’re not cheap, but they have strict standards and their reports are considered benchmarks and the ‘gold standard’ across the industries they focus on.
And then there’s bespoke research that offers tailored studies built around your business goals without a cookie-cutter approach. That’s what THINKINK does through PRESCIENT, our in-house intelligence engine. We study industries, behaviors and buyer motivations through a strategic lens for your business.
Because if you’re going to spend money on research, it should help you make decisions. This intelligence should inspire action, not anxiety or confusion. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
You don’t need a 100-slide deck. You need clarity: Who are the current providers? What do they offer? What’s missing in the market? And how do buyers make decisions? Specialist research will break that down into plain language, not PowerPoint fluff. You’ll walk away knowing exactly where your value sits and what messaging will land with actual buyers.
Research mills might tell you your competitor has “a robust presence” in North America. A real firm will show you how that competitor is positioning itself, where it's gaining traction and what factors (price, service, features, brand) are compelling buyers. You’ll stop guessing and start countering.
Investors don’t want to hear “the global market is poised to grow 18%.” They want proof you understand the segment you’re targeting, what buyers want and how you win. That requires custom research tailored to your niche—not milquetoast slides derived from a mass-market study.
Perhaps you’re looking to expand into Canada, and you don’t know what Canadian preferences are. Maybe your assumptions are that Canadians like poutine, hockey and vacationing at their lakeside cabins. But that’s guesswork (and a lot of stereotyping). Targeted research eliminates that—and bias—and provides you with the insight to make grounded and smarter decisions.
Perhaps your sales have stalled or you’ve just completed a complex merger, and it’s clear your messaging needs a refresh. Rather than guessing based on vague assumptions from unfocused (or worse, old) research, a specialist firm can connect you with feedback from the audiences that matter most. Specialized research gets you the answers—not just what the “market” is doing, but what your market, your buyers and your competitors are doing.
Think about it like this: You (probably) wouldn’t hire a handyman to rewire your house. Market research is no different. If it’s not precise, it’s not credible. And if it’s not credible, it’s a waste.
Perhaps it’s easier to download a report that looks official and hope for the best. But if you need sharp insights for big decisions and don’t want another one-size-fits-all industry overview, talk to a specialist firm.
Research should answer real questions from your actual target audience: Who is our buyer today, and how have their needs shifted? What markets are heating up, and why? Where are we vulnerable? What messaging will cut through the noise? Research mills don’t answer these questions. Heck, they don’t even know your industry. If they did, their analysts would be proudly on display.
Good research offers clarity during chaos, and there’s so much of that right now. It reveals opportunities that generic reports miss. It shapes strategies that drive growth, reduce risk and hone your competitive edge.
At THINKINK, our research unit delivers sector-specific intelligence grounded in rigorous analysis and real-world expertise. When you work with us, you’re gaining a partner who helps you navigate uncertainty and complexity with confidence. And also knows your industry.
So next time you get emailed a report with the subject line Global Industry Market Demand Forecast, 2030–2060 and a cover photo of those little interconnected neon dots over the globe, go ahead and delete it.
Reach out to learn how PRESCIENT, THINKINK’s intelligence engine, can help you move beyond guesswork. Book a complimentary consultation to explore what smarter decisions could look like for your business.