Defense Layer #3
Bad Actors Locked Out of All Sample Sources.
We’ve created the market research industry’s first-ever “No-Fly” list to ensure the permanent exclusion of all known bad actors from entering or re-entering any survey, when run through Rep Data. Rep Data is uniquely able to create and maintain this list thanks to its ability to see and record 4.1 billion survey scans across nearly 200 sample sources, with approximately 15 million more scans coming in each day. Most have no idea how many times these same bad actors are popping up across the same sample sources over and over again, regardless of which source you use.
Even if a respondent is taking your survey through a first-party source, you might not know that it’s the 267th survey of their day, because it’s a bad actor equipped to game the system across many panels. You also might not know that they’ve already answered that same survey in three other sources that happen to share samples behind the scenes due to supply shifts. The industry is messy, and the No-Fly list addition to Rep Data’s Research Defender fraud prevention suite helps researchers clean it all up for their projects, permanently.
What is The "No-Fly" List?
Full Ecosystem Protection.
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Each Respondent Must Pass All 9 Layers.
RESEARCH DESK
The Sampling Platform For Rigorous Quant Teams.
End your sampling nightmares. Meticulously control your sample, suppliers, targeting, feasibility, spend, quality, and timelines in one spot.
RESEARCH
DEFENDER
Research Defender is built on constant insights from 5 billion annual survey scans across 250+ panels.
We block fraud by combining remarkable sample supplier ecosystem visibility with 8 award-winning defense layers.
Our product is improved continuously with a dedicated feedback loop from our fraud alert team, data cleaning team, clients, and reconciliation data.
Gain Confidence in Your Survey Data Quality.
Simplify Workflows:
- No panic sourcing
- No supplier bingo
Boost Feasibility:
- No IR reality slaps
- Huge global reach
Finish Faster:
- Launch in minutes
- Fastest fielding
Reduce Costs:
- Cut cleaning costs
- Competitive prices
Raise Data Quality:
- A+ curated suppliers
- 8 fraud defense layers
"Research Desk was initially built as an internal workflow system to become #1 in data collection.
Turns out many researchers were interested in using it directly in their own operations!"
- Ashley Burkardt | EVP, Services and Growth Operations
"I've been doing this long enough to know that researchers face just as many workflow problems as they do insights problems.
- Studies start simple... but turn into spreadsheet, email, meeting loops.
- Segments look fine… but when fielding starts nothing moves for days.
- Dataset complete… but you secretly just don’t feel good about it.
The reality is that your time is limited, your constantly asked to do more with less, and your reputation is always on the line.
That's why Research Desk is built to protect the outcome, inclusive of timeline, feasibility, cost, and data confidence.
Our industry is flooded with:
- Opaque suppliers
- Runaway sample surprises
- Overpromising quality
- Drastic IR changes
- Quota issues
- Email chains mixups
- Clunky CPI change processes
- Too much time wasted on reconciliation
Research Desk fixes all of it, ensuring confidence in data quality with allowing you to meticulously control your sample, your suppliers, your targeting, your spend, and your timeline.
Desk is the core infrastructure for running repeatable, high-quality quant the way it always should have worked."
Pat Stokes
Patrick Stokes
CEO & Founder of Rep Data
Research Desk Was Built by Those Deep In The Fieldwork Trenches.
See The 19-Part Sample Sourcing
Head-to-Head Comparison
Key: ✅ yes | ⚠️ varies/partial | ❌ no
Product Features | Research Desk | Standard DIY marketplaces | Standard panels |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple research team workflow. | ✅ | ⚠️ | ❌ |
Strong feasibility / global reach. | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Quick turn / remarkable speed. | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Advanced sampling features. | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Reliable pre-survey & in-survey checks. | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
High-visibility panelist deduplication. | ✅ | ⚠️ | ❌ |
Hyperactivity detection across panels. | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
U.S. based project managers. | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ |
Manual data cleaning included. | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ |
Repeatable, consistent fraud controls. | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Supplier-level transparency & reporting. | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
No “long tail” supplier roulette. | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Scale without sacrificing quality, | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Single billing and reconciliation. | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Absolute lowest cost you can get. | ⚠️ | ✅ | ⚠️ |
No hidden fees/minimums. | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ |
Service you can actually reach. | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ |
Visibility into performance changes. | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ |
Confidence for high-stakes decisions. | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ |
1 What makes Research Desk different from typical DIY marketplaces?
Research Desk is built quality-first. Research Defender runs on every project at no additional cost, and manual data cleaning is included, so you are not paying for bad traffic and then paying again in cleanup time.
2 How does Research Defender improve data quality?
Research Defender blocks fraudulent traffic before it enters your survey, often 30 to 40 percent. It combines advanced fingerprinting, cross-network hyperactivity detection, and real-time open-end scoring to catch sophisticated fraud that standard checks miss.
3 Do you dedupe respondents across suppliers?
Yes, better than anyone in the industry as we see 5 billion survey entries per year, approximately 10x greater than the next best competitor. Research Desk supports cross-panel deduplication across panel sources, so you are not unknowingly paying for the same respondent twice when you run multi-source fieldwork.
4 Do you include manual data cleaning?
Yes. Manual review and expert data cleaning are included. Plus, we provide clear recommendations so your team is not stuck reviewing hundreds of open-ends or debating what to keep.
5 Will I get long-tail supplier surprises?
Research Desk focuses on a curated network of top-performing suppliers to reduce long-tail quality problems, so you are not constantly escalating where the traffic came from. When uncommon escalations arise, we're here, digging into the data for you and resolving the issues with you.
6 Are there buyer fees, commissions, or minimum commitments?
No. Research Desk has transparent, simple pricing with no buyer fees, no commissions, and no minimum spend requirements. What you buy is what you pay.
7 We already use a marketplace and it works fine. Why switch?
Many teams feel that way until they total up the hidden costs, including time spent reviewing, replacing, and cleaning data, plus the percentage of completes they reject. Research Desk blocks fraudulent traffic upfront and includes cleaning, so you pay for cleaner completes and get time back.
8 What if your CPI looks higher than what we pay now?
Our CPI is quite competitive. But also be sure to compare total cost, not just sticker CPI. Research Defender and manual cleaning are included, and there are no add-on buyer fees. When you factor in rejected completes and internal cleanup time, many teams find the true cost is much lower.
9 Do you have the same scale and feasibility as big marketplaces?
Research Desk has access to the same core supplier ecosystem many teams already rely on, while curating out the long tail and running traffic through Research Defender first. You get strong feasibility without sacrificing quality.
10 Can we test Research Desk without replacing our current setup?
Yes. Because there are no minimums or commitments, many teams start with a side-by-side pilot on a real study, then expand usage based on results.