A plague of cheap polls—and its consequences

Opt-in online polls once promised a revolution in public opinion research, offering affordable, quick insights. Yet, as Nate Cohn writes in The New York Times, these polls have largely failed to live up to their potential. Many now struggle with poor data quality, driven by unrepresentative samples and a rise in bogus respondents. Each election cycle brings a new wave of firms touting proprietary methods and low-cost accuracy, but these promises often fall short, raising warning signs for anyone relying on the data.

At Hudson Pacific, we choose our methods carefully, and we eschew polling for predictive purposes, focusing instead on the values and attitudes that underpin public opinion. As this analysis shows, applying rigor and thoughtfulness to research methodology has never been more important.