-By Kenneth Hein

Brand protection company MarkMonitor has named Nielsen Co. vice chair Susan Whiting to its board of directors. MarkMonitor offers services that help protect companies from online fraud, brand abuse and cybersquatting. Its "Brandjacking Index" also provides an in-depth review of online risks.
 
MarkMonitor will leverage Whiting's insights to help forge the growing brand protection category. Her "decades of experience working with the marketing organizations of the world's leading brands is a compelling addition to the MarkMonitor board," said Irfan Salim, president and CEO of MarkMonitor, San Francisco.
 
Whiting, who joined Nielsen in 1978, was named vice chair in November 2008. She shares oversight of the company with chairman and CEO David Calhoun in the Office of the CEO.
 
MarkMonitor's other board members include: Salim; Dave Barrett, general partner, Polaris Venture Partners; Stephen J. Harrick, managing director and partner, Institutional Venture Partners; Jim Sayre, president, Cargill Ventures; and Warren Weiss, general partner, Foundation Capital.
 
"It is crucial in today's economic climate for companies to protect the integrity of their brands and ensure the Internet is a safe place for consumers to transact business," said Whiting. "The MarkMonitor value proposition of connecting customers to brands in a way they can trust is a necessity in a growing and evolving online world. I'm excited to join the MarkMonitor board to help transform the company's vision into reality."

MarkMonitor's clients comprise more than half of the Fortune 100 brands and include Epson, FedEx and Time Warner.

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