Part 12 May 2021 09:33
APPENDIX
Summary
Shortly after a location-based advertising campaign went live at the beginning of September 2020, Location Sciences' Verify platform flagged a new, persistent anomaly related to data originating from Blis.
The anomaly was then investigated by Location Sciences and it became apparent as a result of those investigations that Blis was manipulating the data, in that it was not passing true raw data to the Verify platform. The effect of this data manipulation was to enhance Blis's quality scores within the Verify platform.
In performing its duties as the verification partner, Location Sciences then presented its findings and observations to the media agencies involved in the test campaigns for Unilever and Aldi, namely GroupM, Mindshare and Universal McCann.
As part of the Company's presentation to its customers, it set out its proposed next steps. Specifically to open joint discussion to discuss the findings with Verify customers and Blis and also for Blis to halt the manipulation of the true raw data being passed to Verify which, if it did so, would allow verification of actual location signals used to deliver the location-based advertising campaigns (this is the purpose of Verify).
Instead of seeking to resolve the issue with the Company, Blis engaged legal advisers and has threatened legal action against the Company on the grounds of potential defamation.
Location Sciences has significant evidence to support its position and is willing to share this information with an independent arbiter to assess and corroborate the position.
The directors are confident in the position taken by the Company and have taken every step, including taking appropriate legal advice, to protect the position of Verify in the marketplace.
Background to Blis Relationship
In early September 2019, Location Sciences entered a partnership with Blis in respect of "Verify", the Company's location data verification platform. At the time this partnership was announced, on 5 September 2019, Greg Isbister, CEO of Blis, commented: ?
"Transparency and data accuracy are at the core of our business, underpinning everything we do. ?Our proprietary technology, Smart Pin, filters out over 80% of the data received because it does not meet our quality and accuracy standards. Our clients turn to us for high-quality ?data to better understand their customers and drive engagement and sales. Being independently recognised by Location Sciences both for location data and signal quality accuracy adds a valuable layer of impartial authentication for our customers. We're proud to be the first in our industry to offer independently verified data on a global scale."
As per the quote from the CEO of Blis, at the core of the partnership agreed between Location Sciences and Blis was a commitment to transparency and data accuracy. However, as the partnership progressed, Location Sciences became conce