BPA Worldwide Blog

BPA New Rules & Amendments - December 2012

Below we have summarized new rule amendments and initiatives passed by the Board of Directors at their December 2012 meeting.

All changes are effective immediately, with the December 2012 reporting period.

The Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on our home page, or by clicking here. If you prefer, please contact your BPA Member Relations Manager, or any of our audit staff, with any questions.

Board Actions Applying to Business Publications, Consumer Magazines and Newspapers

Digital Editions Served Through Apps: The first digital copies were delivered as a pdf to the subscriber’s computer. That quickly evolved into more robust, user friendly flip book digital editions accessed through the web. In today’s media landscape, more media owners are using apps to deliver their digital copies. Apps can be used to serve copies on computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

Over its last two meetings, the Board worked through the evolution of reporting apps and digital copies delivered through apps. In December 2011, the Board amended its rules to allow the reporting of downloaded apps on the Brand Report. At that time there was not enough information to report the copies delivered through apps as qualified circulation.

In May 2012, due to advancements in technology and reporting, the Board approved the reporting of digital copies served through apps as qualified circulation. At the time it was determined that through authentication (access code tied to subscriber registration/information) media owners were able to identify and qualify end-users, and therefore, report them as qualified circulation.

As we move from theory into practice, we identified several situations that need further clarification and guidance, especially in regard to combined print and digital offers and controlled (free) app based subscriptions.

The Board amended rules for digital copies served through apps and mobile devices as follows:

* Digital subscriptions purchased through tablets/mobile (“Digital First”): Digital circulation shall be reported from copy one and for the full term of subscription. However, the digital subscription must be authenticated through the device/app to report digital copies when sold as:

1. Paid combination sales/bundled subscriptions (print and digital)
2. Paid sponsored digital tablet/mobile subscriptions
3. Paid circulation, with digital as a promotional incentive

* Non-Paid circulation: recipient must authenticate the digital subscription through the device and access the magazine/publication once each six month reporting period.

Continuous/Non-Continuous Service: In 2007, the BPA Board changed the continuous service rule from six months to three months. At that time, media owners expressed that they needed to change circulation much more frequently than in the past, media owners were no longer willing to wait six months to make circulation changes, and media buyers were not buying on long term schedules.

Recognizing that managing continuous service compliance adds costs for media owners without adding much value to the media buyers, the Board reviewed the rules again.

The BPA advisory committees, and, subsequently, the BPA Board, decided the continuous/non-continuous circulation rule is outdated now that there are multiple media channels, multiple messaging opportunities, and unlimited frequencies within the media brand to reinforce advertising messages. As a result, the continuous service requirement has been eliminated.

Shared Media Channels: When BPA began reporting website traffic there were many discussions regarding media owner’s web strategies. Some media owners adopted vertical website strategies and some media owners adopted horizontal “portal” website strategies. Vertical website strategies create one website for each print magazine, and portal strategies create one large website hosting multiple brands. BPA termed the latter “Shared Media Channels.”

In May 2010, the BPA Board approved the reporting of shared media channels on multiple BPA reports, as long as there was clear disclosure. These disclosures were usually placed in the notes section at the end of the report. A recent competitive challenge caused BPA to revisit how it reports shared media channels.

The Board reaffirmed reporting shared media channels, but determined it requires better disclosure. The Board voted to require the disclosure comment, “shared media channel (XYZ website) - serving both ______ and ____,” everywhere shared data (of any type, not just websites) is reported, including page one of the report.

Brand Subscription Sale Offers: As media owners begin to offer bundled brand subscriptions, which typically include: magazine (print/digital), premium web content, reference materials, email newsletters, etc., it has become increasingly difficult to determine the value of the magazine when reporting “paid” claims. Since BPA rules require media owners report average annual subscription order price for magazines, it is a challenge to determine what value to report when combination brand offers are used.

The Board decided the full amount collected for the offer shall be reported as the value of the subscription.  Members reporting average annual order price shall disclose the number of subscriptions sold with multiple-channel brand offers, when applicable.

Pre-Populated Data: In May 2012, BPA changed its rules to allow members to pre-populate web qualification forms with prior-year magazine data provided the subscriber is given the option to confirm or change the presented data. Since media owners are communicating with subscribers and collecting demographic data through multiple media channels, members asked BPA to expand the rule. Media owners wish to utilize subscriber information from any channel to pre-populate magazine subscription solicitations.

In addition, members have  requested the rules be amended to allow the use of third-party sources, such as business information providers, association lists rosters, and directories to pre-populate information to make subscribing as efficient as possible.

Lastly, since BPA's previous tests on pre-populated data have indicated that subscribers are diligent in reviewing the data presented to them on pre-populated forms and make changes when necessary, the committees suggested the data used for prepopulating does not need an age restriction.

The Board approved all the recommended changes.

Electronic Edition: Site Licenses: The Board was asked to revisit reporting electronic edition site licenses as qualified digital copies. The topic was reviewed in 2002 and 2007, but due to limitations on end-user data, electronic site license copies remained a non-qualified source.

The Board noted that site licenses are usually access points to premium digital content, which may include access to a digital magazine, but they are not necessarily digital magazine subscriptions. The Board ruled that site licenses can be reported as a separate media channel (“seats”) on the BPA Brand Report, but not as qualified digital copies on the publication circulation statements.

Qualification Forms on Statements: The current BPA rule requires a “reproduction of the questionnaire shall be included in the supplementary audit report.” However, as media owner members migrate to Brand Reporting and expand statement sizes to report more data, report space is becoming even more valuable.  Since qualification forms are easily accessible on the media owner’s website, the Board changed the rule to no longer require qualification forms on BPA statements/reports.

Digital Delivery: Non Requestors: In December 2011, the BPA Board changed the rules to allow media owners to serve digital copies to all sources: requested and non-requested recipients.

At the time, it was decided that media owners must first communicate with the subscriber, introduce the digital product and provide an opportunity for opt-out before serving the first digital issue. However, in practice, media owners find the introduction email is the perfect opportunity to include the first digital issue, and sending an introduction email and a follow-up email with the first issue is redundant.

The Board agreed and amended the rule to allow media owners to count the digital subscription, from copy one, as long as the subscriber is given the ability to opt-out.

Controlled Circulation Offers: Disclosing Delivery Format: Prior to December 2011, qualified digital circulation could only be sent to individuals who requested to receive the magazine digitally. Media owners were required to ask the subscriber if they wished to receive the magazine in print, digital, or in both formats.

In December 2011, BPA changed the rules allowing all sources to qualify for digital circulation. With this change BPA eliminated the requirement to ask the subscriber which format they preferred. Shortly thereafter, BPA began seeing controlled subscription offers that did not designate a format; media owners were offering the subscription and then deciding which format (print or digital) to serve the subscriber based on their information.

We reviewed this practice with our advisory committees and board, and all reaffirmed the practice.  No rule change is required.  We are simply advising our members of the opportunity to employ this practice for their controlled circulation.

Board Actions Applying to Canadian Newspapers Only

Newspaper TRAC Analyses to Add FDSA Accreditation Information;Corporate TRAC Reports Available: CCAB issues TRAC (Trend Report About Circulation) analyses for daily and community newspaper members. The Daily Newspaper TRAC, covering the 12 months ending December, is issued every March in tandem with the release of NADbank’s readership data. The Community Newspaper TRACs, covering the six months ending March and September, are released November and June, respectively.   

Effective with the next release of TRAC, all daily and community TRAC analyses will include FDSA accredited information.

Additionally, all newspaper members will have the option of releasing company specific TRAC reports for their company only.

Reporting Newspaper Subscriptions Served Across Multiple Platforms: Newspapers are increasingly serving audiences across multiple media platforms. Publishers may choose to report individuals receiving multiple media channels. If a publisher chooses this option, they must also report net unique individuals.

Non-Paid Daily Newspaper Reporting Format: orking with our non-paid daily newspaper publisher members and media buyers, CCAB has developed an improved reporting format for non-paid daily newspapers. Changes include:

• Presenting two channels of circulation: Public Place Distribution, including street promotion copies and Box Distribution. Public Place Distribution, including street promotion copies would include all copies distributed within transit locations and copies handed out by hawkers, as well as copies delivered to residential and non-residential locations, schools, and retail locations. Box Distribution would include all copies distributed through boxes, notably those distributed in the immediate vicinity of transit entrance and exit locations. 

• Revising the name of the “Friday” edition to “Friday/Weekend Edition,” since a significant amount of pick-up occurs throughout the weekend. 

• Reporting geography by CMA and non-CMA is optional since these newspapers serve primarily commuter markets.  

 

BPA New Rules and Amendments - May 2012

Below we have summarized new rule amendments and initiatives passed by BPA Worldwide’s Board of Directors at their May 2012 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes will be in effect with the June 2012 reporting period.

The BPA Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on the BPA home page, or by clicking here.

Board Actions Applying to All Members

Audited Web Traffic: Due to advances in technology, the Board took strides toward a truly “tag neutral” approach in respect to reporting audited website traffic data. BPA is now making more options available to members to participate in our web traffic audit process. Specifically, we are no longer requiring that members use the BPA proprietary tag powered by Nielsen. 

Using an enhanced audit process, we can now work with other existing web analytics tags, including Google Analytics and/or Omniture SiteCatalyst tags. We will look to add other analytics tools to this list as necessary (these will be subject to BPA review for appropriate audit trails).

BPA members may begin reporting Google Analytics data as of July 2012 after completing a simple set-up process. More information on this subject will be issued under separate cover.
  
Reporting Apps: At BPA’s last Board meeting in December 2011, the reporting of Apps and issues served through Apps was discussed. At that  time, it was determined that due to the lack of end user information, only App downloads could be reported on BPA Brand reports; there was not enough recipient information to report qualified subscriptions/copies delivered through Apps on circulation statements.
 
Over the last few months, BPA has seen media owners develop App registration (free) or payment (paid) gateways. While the App is often free, when first accessed, the end user must either register or pay to gain access to the subscription/copy. Through this gateway mechanism, media owners can now prove qualification, and may now report the copies served through Apps as qualified circulation.

Board Actions Applying to Business Publications and Consumer Magazines Only

Pre-Populated Electronic Qualification Forms: In 2004, BPA conducted a series of tests on pre-populated data on electronic qualification forms. At that time, it was determined that pre-populated data did not positively influence response rate, and, in many cases, subscribers did not pay close attention to the data on the forms. However, testing determined that single-response questions that required the subscriber to select a “confirm” button at the end of each question yielded quality results. As a result, in 2004 the BPA Board reaffirmed BPA rules not allowing pre-populated data on qualification forms, unless it was a single response web form, where the subscriber confirmed the data for each question.

In 2011, BPA Worldwide was asked to test pre-populated web forms again.  Publishers stated that it had been more than six years since the last test and individuals have become more accustomed to having their data presented on pre-populated on electronic interfaces.  As a result, they are now more careful about updating and safeguarding their information.

Tests were conducted on pre-populated web forms. While BPA found that subscribers are more likely to change a blank form than a pre-populated form, the variances were minor. As a result, the Board voted to allow publishers to pre-populate electronic subscription forms (web, email, text) with the previous year’s data.  The maximum age of the previous demographic data cannot exceed three years in age and the subscriber must be asked to review the data and press a single confirm button to agree the information is correct before completing the renewal.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Interactive Voice Response (IVR) reduces the labor costs in telecommunication campaigns and allows media owners to qualify and re-qualify subscribers in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

In November 2011, BPA tested a number of IVR campaigns.  The results were in alignment with the results of campaigns made by live telemarketing representatives. As a result, the Board voted to allow telemarketing companies to utilize Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in their subscriber qualifying and re-qualifying efforts.

Digital Request, Electronic: At the December 2011 meeting, the BPA Board ruled that subscriber access to digital copies (by downloading the issue or accessing it online) may be used to substantiate a renewal to continue receiving a digital subscription. 

The current rule requires minimum access for the six-month reporting period, depending on publishing frequency. However, since most members analyze either May or November issues, media owners found they were not getting the benefit of subscriber access in the months of June or December, effectively losing two months out of the year.

The Board amended the rule to maintain the original access requirements, and the six-month period, but the six-month access period will now end with the analyzed issue, and, in so doing, provide media owners with a full twelve months of subscriber access.

 

 

Board Actions Applying to Canadian Daily Newspapers Only

Reporting Separate Editions: Many Canadian daily newspaper publishers use Extended Market Coverage (EMC) and/or Total Market Coverage (TMC) editions of their paper to provide full coverage of geographic areas. This is important for flyer distribution.

EMC editions are the full paper distributed to an expanded audience. TMC editions contain different editorial—and often a different name—from the host paper. CCAB, BPA’s Canadian division, historically allowed both EMC and TMC editions circulation to be reported on the host paper’s CCAB report, with full disclosure.

The BPA Board decided that TMC editions, with their varying editorial content, should not be allowed to report their circulation on the host CCAB report. TMC editions now must have their own memberships and their own CCAB reports. 

New Rules and Amendments - December 2011

Below, we have summarized new rule amendments passed by BPA’s Board of Directors at their December 2011 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes are effective immediately.

The Board also approved changes to our bylaws positioning BPA for growth in assurance, but non-circulation audit related areas. A separate mailing of the proposed bylaw changes will be sent as amendments. These changes must be approved by the membership and we need your vote! Please watch for this communication. 

Board Actions Applying to All Members
  
Reporting Apps: The ability to serve magazines and newspapers through tablets and other hand-held devices is one of the most exciting developments in publishing. Many publishers have, or are developing, electronic formats to deliver via apps.

Publishers are implementing three general types of apps:
1. Apps that serve the magazine/newspaper on a mobile device (ipad, tablet, smartphone, e-reader)
2. Apps that serve the magazine/newspaper and additional functions (news feeds)
3. Apps that are related to the brand, but serve a function other than delivering editorial content (data/games/etc)

BPA rules allow for the first group and second group to be reported as digital copies. The third group cannot be reported as a digital copy and should be reported as its own channel on a BPA Brand Report. However, at the moment, there is very little audit documentation to report apps metrics on BPA reports. Some service providers provide download reports and session reports, but this is the extent of the data that can be analyzed. Service providers cannot tell how many individuals have deleted the apps, and they cannot tie sessions into individual users.

In addition, new issue notification is moving toward automated “push notification” within the app and away from email notifications. When push notification is used, there is no tracking mechanism for successful delivery. The push notification is a one-way communication. There is no bounce back or return, so it is impossible for publishers to tell how many people actually received the notification.

There are software companies and production/distribution vendors that are building software solutions, including tracking beacons in the app, to provide publishers with deeper data. However, this is not in wide spread use at the moment. Without information about deleted apps or successful notification, app copies cannot be reported as “qualified” on BPA reports. Of course, downloaded “issues” may be reported as qualified circulation.

The BPA Board approved reporting “Downloaded Apps” by month with an aggregate total, along with a footnote disclosing the limitations of the figures. If a member chooses to report apps, they may do so, but must utilize a BPA Brand Report.

Again, downloaded issues may be reported a qualified circulation. BPA is working with the industry to develop improved metrics. Stay tuned.

Board Actions Applying to Business Publications and Consumer Magazines Only

Digital Circulation: Ensuring that source and age parameters are applied equally to print and digital, the Board has updated reporting rules to allow digital editions for all sources: request and non-request. Digital circulation shall be clearly identified on the BPA statement/report, conform to the Field or Market Served and Definition of Recipient Qualification. Proof of production, distribution and demographic data where claimed (which is no older than 36 months) must be provided for these copies at the time of audit.

Non-request digital distribution can include sources such as email newsletters or other email lists of recipients who meet the qualifying criteria, but have not specifically requested to receive the publication in either print or digital form.

Age and Source Reporting: Responding to feedback from members and the marketplace, the Board moved to reverse its May 2010 decision to consolidate 3b reporting. The updated rule requires publisher members to report five source categories: Direct Request; Request from Recipient’s Company; Membership Benefits; Communication other than Request; and Sources other than above (see example below). At their option, publishers may subdivide request and report by type: written, telecommunication, and electronic.

This rule is effective July 1, 2012, with first reporting on the December 2012 statements/reports.

Telecommunication Sources: Authorized Requestors: “Company request” rules were amended to clarify any co-worker can make a “company request” for any others within their organization.

Telecom Scripts Approval: To add efficiency to publishers’ and telemarketing firms’ processes, the Board voted to change the rules to not require, but have as an option, to have every telecom script  be reviewed and approved by BPA.

BPA staff will review telecom scripts, if requested. BPA staff will review one script per title per year inclusive in the membership fee. Any additional reviews will be recorded as audit time. To avoid unbudgeted costs, the Board also stipulated that only those scripts submitted by publishers will be reviewed by BPA staff. Vendors should not submit scripts for approval without prior authorization from publishers.

Pre-Populated Demographic Data: Telecom request recordings have alleviated previous concerns about the quality of telemarketing sources. When calls are recorded you may confirm name, address, title, email, fax,  phone number, and prior-year demographic information during the telephone interview.

Consolidating Passive Sources: As static passive sources have given way to dynamic online databases, it has become increasingly difficult for publisher members and BPA staff to determine the difference between the four passive sources (association rosters and directories; business directories; manufacturer’s, distributor’s and wholesaler’s lists; and other sources) within the “Sources other than above” category.

To facilitate the reporting process, the Board voted to consolidate all passive sources reported into one new category: “Sources other than above, including: association rosters and directories, business directories, manufacturer’s, distributor’s and wholesaler’s lists, and other sources” (business publication statements); and “Sources other than above, including rosters and directories, manufacturer’s, distributor’s and wholesaler’s lists, and other sources” (consumer magazine statements). The consolidation should eliminate the confusion among members. If a member chooses to continue to report a passive source separately they may do so at their option. 
        
Electronic Request: The Board ruled that subscriber access to digital copies (by downloading the issue or accessing it online) may be used to substantiate a renewal to continue receiving a digital subscription. Subscriber access within the following schedules will now qualify as a request to continue to receive the publication:

* A publication issued on a weekly basis must be accessed nine times every six months.

* A publication issued on a monthly basis must be accessed twice every six months.

* A publication issued on a quarterly basis must be accessed once every six months.

* A semiannual publication must be accessed once per audit period.

Publications must maintain proof of initial request and subsequent engagement activity for review at time of BPA audit. NOTE: This rule applies only to those digital recipients who have previously made a personal direct request to receive the publication.

Digital Edition Reporting: Magazines/Publications: BPA received feedback stating that the current format for reporting individuals that receive both print and digital versions of a publication or magazine is confusing. The current format reports copies in three columns: “print,” “digital,” and “both.” An individual who receives both print and digital copies is reported only once in the “both” column. There was concern from members that if an advertiser is buying only print, or buying only digital, the number on the BPA report may be confusing. To get the true print circulation, one must add the “print” total and the “both” total. To get the true digital total, one must add the total “digital” and the total “both” column.

As a result, the Board updated reporting rules to include categories for Total Print, Total Digital, and a new third column for Total Qualified (Unique Recipients). This format is in alignment with the new International Federation of Audit Bureaus of Circulation (IFABC) standards for reporting print and digital circulation (see example below). This circulation must be reported separately in paragraphs 1 and 2, but it is now optional throughout the balance of the statement/report. However, if a publisher is reporting non-requested digital circulation, that circulation must be reported separately in the age and source paragraph.

Disclosure Comments: Multiple Copy Same Addressee (MCSA)/Sponsored/Price: The rules for disclosure have been amended with added thresholds to make the disclosure comments more manageable, including an optional reporting table of  MCSA/sponsored/circulation. This will make BPA reports easier for media buyers to use, more efficient for publisher’s to prepare, and more efficient for BPA audit.

Sponsored sales between 5% and 10% of average total qualified circulation must be reported in the explanatory paragraph on the last page of the statement. Sponsored sales that are greater than 10% of average total qualified circulation must report the average sponsor price on page 1 of the BPA statement (under the non-sponsored average price) and include a footnote in paragraph 1 referencing further details to be found in the explanatory paragraph.

The amended rules also base MCSA and sponsored thresholds on average total qualified circulation rather than paid circulation.

Geographic Breakout – United Kingdom: Geographic reporting rules had required that if circulation is 25% or more in the United Kingdom then a county or regional breakout is needed. Members and fulfillment bureaus have noted that there are challenges in reporting this way since postcodes do not match to counties and the mapping of postcodes to regions is not precise.

The rule was amended to mandate reporting by country in the UK, but a publisher may opt for a more defined breakout (as shown):

• Northern
• Yorkshire & Humberside
• North West
• East Midlands
• West Midlands
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• South East
• Wales
• East Anglia
• Greater London
• South West


Reporting Renewal Percentage: The reporting of renewal percentage rate is optional. Most members opt not to report renewal percentage on their statements.

The BPA Board amended the rule to allow members the option to report one aggregated renewal rate for paid circulation, or separate renewal rates by paid individual, membership benefit, and multi-copy same addressee.

Board Actions Applying to Canadian Newspapers Only

Hybrid Subscriptions: Hybrid subscriptions are subscriptions fulfilled through a combination of print and digital editions with the intent to count only one copy as circulation per day. For example, an individual subscriber receives the print newspaper Monday-Friday and a digital edition Saturday and Sunday. Copies delivered Monday-Friday will be reported as print; copies delivered Saturday and Sunday will be reported as digital.

Bundled Subscriptions: Bundled subscriptions include print and digital editions (platforms) with the intent to count each copy served over multiple platforms per day, which will result in multiple “copies” per individual, per day. The combination sale rule and the digital edition rule have been amended to include bundled subscriptions that include multiple platforms of the same paper. Total unique recipients are also to be reported/required.

Board Actions Applying to Newspapers (Excluding Canada)

Digital Edition Reporting: Newspapers:[GH1] BPA rules for digital newspapers categorized digital as falling into four types: Dynamic, Targeted, Enhanced and Replica, with definitions of each. Working with other audit bureaus around the world through the international federation (IFABC), we have begun to set global standards. The Board has approved modifications to the BPA rules. The category of “Replica” will now be stated as “Editorial Replica.” The category of “Enhanced” will now be stated as “Replica Plus.”

In addition to reporting all four types separately, it was approved to group the four types into two categories. The two new sub-total categories for reporting are “Replica” and “Non-Replica.” Included in the “Replica” category shall be “Editorial Replica” and “Replica Plus” copies. Included in the “Non-Replica” category shall be “Dynamic” and “Targeted” (see examples below).

For the full set of newspaper rules, see rule N3.13 on the BPA web site.

The BPA Board agreed with the IFABC recommendations, and will now allow BPA newspaper members to report gross distribution by channel (replica, non-replica) and require the reporting of unduplicated subscribers when they can be identified by name, or address, or  email, or other means.

The Board approved that each platform report a count of one, and a unique count of subscribers must also be reported, as stated above.

The Canadian daily newspapers tabled the item for this Board meeting and will review the matter again in six months at the May 2012 Board meeting.

These changes are now being considered by our Business and Consumer magazine groups for possible amendment by the Board at its next meeting in May.

Hybrid Subscriptions: Hybrid subscriptions are subscriptions fulfilled through a combination of print and digital editions with the intent to count only one copy as circulation per day. For example, an individual subscriber receives the print newspaper Monday-Friday and a digital edition Saturday and Sunday. Copies delivered Monday-Friday will be reported as print; copies delivered Saturday and Sunday will be reported as digital.

Bundled Subscriptions: Bundled subscriptions include print and digital editions (platforms) with the intent to count each copy served over multiple platforms per day, which will result in multiple “copies” per individual, per day. The combination sale rule and the digital edition rule have been amended to include bundled subscriptions that include multiple platforms of the same paper. Total unique recipients are also to be reported/required.

Sponsored Circulation Sold with Advertising: Rules were amended, for newspapers outside Canada, allowing sponsored circulation to be sold with advertising, but the sponsored circulation must meet the following criteria:

* The advertising agreement and newspaper purchase agreement are shown on separate contracts; or,
* The advertising agreement includes specific language disclosing the newspaper purchase price within the contract when the agreement includes both advertising and newspapers; or,
* The purchase price of the newspaper is a separate itemized line within the contract or invoice when the agreement includes both advertising and the newspaper. 
* The purchase transaction must be separate from any financial agreement between the third party purchaser and the newspaper.
* A clear audit trail must be maintained from the invoice/contract to the circulation records.
* Recipients must be advised that the copies are made available by the purchaser.
* Recipients must receive initial notification that includes all information necessary to cancel delivery.

Board Actions Applying to Associate Members Only

The Board approved criteria for associate membership. These include the requirement of three (3) positive references to prove successful completion of service to BPA members. In addition, associate members will be granted the use of a new BPA Associate Member logo. If an associate member’s work is found to be negatively impacting publisher members and the industry, BPA will take action under Section 10 of the Bylaws (offenses and penalties).

Web Analytics Demystified and BPA Worldwide announce first-ever Digital Consumer Data Privacy Audit

Web Analytics Demystified, the most trusted name in digital measurement consulting, and BPA Worldwide, the most recognized name in digital auditing, are proud to announce a joint effort to help business owners and consumers alike understand how consumer digital data is being used on the Internet and mobile Internet.

Built around Demystified’s objective and comprehensive GUARDS methodology, BPA auditors are able to evaluate complete digital environments looking for personally identifiable information to ensure use of it is consistent with stated privacy policies and the current and foreseeable legislative landscape.

“Web sites and site operators are increasingly under attack because of their use of consumer data collected online,” said John Lovett, Web Analytics Demystified Senior Partner and Vice President of the Web Analytics Association. “GUARDS is designed to give senior leaders, boards and shareholders clarity regarding the collection and use of consumer data across the organization. The GUARDS audit balances consumer data collection against the presence of appropriate governance and privacy controls, yielding both a comprehensive and actionable systems audit.”

BPA has a long history of providing digital systems audits and has worked with widely recognized brands including Adtech, Angie’s List, Burst Media and Morningstar. “Without regard for the current legislative agenda, our experience tells us that companies are far better off knowing what they are collecting and why, than not,” says Glenn Hansen, President and CEO of BPA Worldwide. “Demystified’s GUARDS methodology allows our auditors to accurately identify potential risk so that executives can take appropriate action before lawyers or politicians call.”

GUARDS is currently being tested with Web Analytics Demystified and BPA Worldwide clients and is expected to be available for widespread release by January 1, 2012.  For more information or to participate in testing please contact John Lovett at Web Analytics Demystified (john.lovett@webanalyticsdemystified or 603-262-5636).

 

 

Who Does What These Days?

The traditional roles of media owners, agencies and advertisers will continue to blur over the next few years, as each focuses on generating marketing revenue streams instead of advertising dollars. This comes from Richard Willingham, CEO of motum b2b, as he spoke at a recent Association of Medical Media event.

Willingham, the newly-elected Chairman of the BPA Worldwide Board of Directors, was on hand to share his views on the future of the media industry and he gave the crowd plenty to think about.

According to Willingham, many of today’s agencies are now creating content, a role which at one time was the sole domain of media companies. Further, agencies are building databases of qualified marketing contacts for their clients. When those databases are fully integrated, there is the potential for an agency to serve many different clients as effectively as media owners do now.

 At the same time, media owners are offering creative design services since, at the b-to-b level, much of the media buying is being done direct and advertisers are looking for design assistance.

So where does this leave the industry’s traditional three-legged model of media owners, agencies and advertisers? Perhaps with one less leg as media houses provide the “total solution” of content, design and databases, and ad agencies offer the same service package.

BPA new rules and amendments - December 2010

Below, we have summarized new rule amendments passed by BPA’s Board of Directors at their December 2010 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes are effective immediately.

The BPA Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on the BPA home page, or by clicking here. We have also posted this summary to the BPA blog if you wish to comment on any of the initiatives or rule amendments. If you prefer, please contact your BPA Member Relations Manager, or any of our audit staff, with any questions.

 

 

Board Actions Applying to All BPA Members

* Combined Brand Audit/Multimedia Report. Last year, BPA introduced the Integrated Brand Reach audit, a new service to verify a media owner’s brand reach across multiple channels of content distribution. The gross number of recipients for each channel were reported, as well as the net count of unique recipients.
The success of this process relied on an integrated database containing each channel’s recipients. However, too few media publishers have initiated or completed integrating channel data files.

As a result, BPA has been asked to verify the recipients per channel without integration during a transitional period while integrated databases are built. Given the difficult economic times, the BPA Board agreed to provide an audit of a brand without initially requiring database integration or net unique recipients.

Those publishers with truly integrated databases may continue to report gross recipients of each channel, the number of “uniques” served and the overlap in channels delivered. Alternatively, publishers have the opportunity to report multiple media channels without identifying any overlap of platforms users. In those cases, each paragraph will include a disclosure that “no attempt has been made identify or eliminate duplication that may exist across media channels.”

According to BPA President and CEO, Glenn Hansen, the global auditor of media has as its goal that members will report “uniques” across all platforms by 2014. A three-year transition period allowing media owners to introduce the necessary processes to properly integrate their subscriber databases is necessary, he added. Each year, the Board will reevaluate the attainability of the desired goal with the knowledge that advertisers and media buyers want media owners to provide integrated data so they can make the best marketing decisions across all channels.

Whether media owners report data through integrated channels or by separate platforms, both Aggregate and Average contacts per channel (by frequency) will be available.

A sample Brand Audit Report will be available shortly.

* Non-requested digital subscribers. As part of this process, BPA introduced a new channel for non-requested digital magazines on the Brand Audit Report. Non-requested digital subscribers will be grouped together as “Digital” circulation in the Executive Summary but broken out separately as Request/Non-Request categories within the age/source paragraph.

* Expo/Event registrants/attendees. Understanding that sponsors of expos/events may wish to promote to those registrants who may not attend the event, media owners will now be allowed to report the number of event attendance only; or both attendance and registration. Registration alone may not be reported. Previously, organizers were permitted to report attendance figures only. The new rule applies to reporting data for both live and virtual events.

* Publicity. Now that BPA has moved to measure all channels of a brand through the Brand Audit Report, media owners may be faced with disclosing various sources throughout their media kits. To ensure members’ promotional pieces are as clear as possible, the Board voted to allow a single statement per promotion, “Unless otherwise indicated, all data is publisher’s own data.” However, if publishers choose to disclose the sources for all data cited, they may do so.

Board Actions Applying to Business Publications and Consumer Magazines

Unbalanced Reporting Frequency. A number of BPA members, often in seasonal situations, report multiple issues on one six-month circulation report but only a single issue on the other statement.

To help reduce cost to members, the BPA Board amended its rules to allow those reporting only one issue during a six-month period to report all issues on a single annual circulation statement instead of two six-month reports.

Posting of Membership Advisory and Subsequent Statements. BPA rules prevent a circulation statement from being issued until the previous audit has been completed and released. If a member’s statement is found to require significant revisions as a result of the annual audit, a Membership Advisory is issued outlining the changes made to the statement. The Membership Advisory is posted on the BPA Reports Library. Once the new circulation statement is issued for the subsequent reporting period and posted to the Reports Library, the Membership Advisory is moved to the “History” link. Advertisers typically utilize the current report or statement and may not be aware of recent adjustments included on the Membership Advisory.

To further promote full disclosure, BPA will create a link to Membership Advisories found on the Reports Library. The Membership Advisory link will be removed once a subsequent audit has been completed and the underlying cause of the Membership Advisory has been corrected.

Multi-Copy Same Addressee Disclosures. Rules relating to the disclosure of multi-copy same-addressee (MCSA) circulation were amended to provide better disclosure:

• BUSINESS: If any one MCSA or Sponsored MCSA sale is greater than 5% of total average paid subscriptions for the period, the sale must be fully explained in the explanatory paragraph. Reporting the actual name of the sponsor/purchaser is optional for the publisher.
• If subscriber duplication (reported as MCSA) is equal to 25% or more of average qualified circulation, disclosure within the Definition of Recipient Qualification (DRQ) is required. If duplication (MCSA) circulation is 10% or more, but less than 25%, a comment is required in the explanatory notes section of the statement or report.

 

• CONSUMER: If MCSA circulation is equal to 25% or more of average qualified circulation, disclosure is required within the Market Served (page 1) and Method of Distribution (last page). If 10% or more, but less than 25%, a comments is required in the explanatory notes (last page).

Applicant Audit Extension/Public Notification. BPA’s President grants all applicants a 12-month period within which to complete an initial audit. The President also has the potential to extend that period up to three months should BPA agree that sufficient progress is being made toward completing the audit. However, concerns are raised when media owners’ use of “BPA Applied for” during the application period has the potential to deceive the advertisers in the market to the detriment of other members and applicants.

In those cases when the application has been extended, the Board ruled that the extension period should be used to complete audit work, not to extend the period being audited. BPA will also add a notice of “Application Extension” to the Reports Library on the BPA website.

Minimum Price Disclosure. Additional disclosure is required for any large volume multi-copy same-addressee (MCSA) and/or sponsored subscriptions found on the qualified circulation file, regardless of when they were sold. The rules of disclosure were amended to read:

• If MCSA or sponsored subs represent 5%-9.9% of total average qualified circulation, details of those subscriptions must be reported in the explanatory paragraph (last page of report).
• If MCSA or sponsored subs represent 10% or more of total average qualified circulation, details of the subscriptions must be reported under paragraph 1 on the statement.

Board Actions Applying to Consumer Magazines Only

Average Annual Subscription Order Price: Single Copy Sales. Under current BPA rules, magazines with 50,000 or less average total qualified circulation and less than 5% average qualified paid circulation in paragraph 1, are not required to report average subscription order price. Magazines with more than 50,000 average qualified circulation in paragraph 1, have the same reporting option when the average qualified paid circulation is less than 2%.

Magazines with a high number of single copy sales, or sponsored circulation may exceed these paid circulation thresholds, but have a very small individual subscription base. As a result, members must calculate and report average annual subscription order price on a very small portion of their circulation.

To reduce the time and effort necessary to track and calculate this data, the Board voted to eliminate single copy sales when calculating the annual subscription order price reporting threshold.

 

Board Actions Applying to Canadian Community Newspapers Only

Annual Statement Filing Now an Option for Canadian Community Newspapers. Recognizing that community newspaper publishers in Canada are under continued pressure to remove costs from their operations, community newspapers will now file one annual circulation statement ended March 30. Community publishers retain the option of filing interim six-month statements; however, all community newspapers will be required to file top-level interim data (for six months ended September 30) that will be reported in an online Community Newspaper TRAC (Trend Report About Circulation). Top-line circulation data will include each publishing day’s six-month average circulation for the following four categories: Total Paid Circulation; Voluntary Paid Circulation; Total Non-Paid Circulation; and Total Bulk Distribution. The Board believes community newspaper publishers may be able to eliminate printing costs by opting for the 12-month annual statement.

Daily newspapers in Canada currently report circulation data in a single report covering the calendar year. Dailies serving a daily average of 25,000 or more paid copies are audited on an annual basis; those serving fewer than 25,000 paid copies are audited bi-annually.

What's you opinion? BPA committees propose several new reporting options

As we work our way through BPA’s global audience development committee schedule in advance of our Board of Directors meeting in December, a number of interesting proposals have been brought to the table. I will highlight some of these ideas here with the hope that you will provide your feedback and help shape BPA policy as we move forward.

PROPOSAL 1: Integrated Brand Reach and/or Multimedia report

It has come to our attention that some BPA members wish to report multiple media channels on a BPA Worldwide report, but do not have the resources at this time to fully integrate their files and report “uniques.” As a result, BPA is considering offering a “Multimedia Report (MM)” that will provide publishers with the opportunity to report multiple media channels without identifying any overlap. ABC (North America) has a similar offering.

To be clear: the distinction is that Integrated Brand Reach (IBR) report documents gross recipients of each channel, the number of uniques served and the overlap in channels delivered. The Multimedia Report will show only gross for each channel—with no indication of the unique number of recipients. This proposal would also include the creation of a new channel for non-requested digital magazines on both the Multimedia Report and the Integrated Brand Reach Report.

We would like to hear your opinion on the following ideas:

1. Offering the two services (IBR and MM)
2. If two services are offered, do our reports sufficiently distinguish between the two measurements (see links to the draft reports)
3. Should BPA allow reporting an aggregate of the gross measured, or is the figure of no value in the marketplace
4. Should a new channel of the brand be created for non-requested digital magazines, which are currently considered non-qualified.

PROPOSAL 2: Remove 36-month age requirement (non-print channels)

It is clear that BPA cannot apply the same B-to-B print magazine standards to other channels analyzed (i..e. E-newsletters) in the Integrated Brand Reach report. The capture and control infrastructure for the additional channels are not yet present within most media owners processes. This is especially true when capturing audience demographics.

It has been suggested that BPA remove the 36-month age requirement for demographics on any media channels other than print circulation. This rule would be re-addressed in the future as media owners develop more advanced systems/processes and “qualify” subscribers to channels of the brand, either as they do for print or by linking subscribers of other channels to the information held for their print subscription. In the meantime, however, removing the age stipulation on demographics (other than print) may allow media owners to move more quickly into a truly integrated database.

PROPOSAL 3: Event audience reporting

BPA’s Audience Development Advisory Committee proposed that media publishers be allowed the following options when reporting event figures: event registration only, event attendance only, or both registration and attendance as two separate figures.

This proposal would apply to reporting data for both live and virtual events.

We understand that sponsors of events have the opportunity to promote to registrants even though they may not attend the event. This promotional opportunity may occur before the event as well as after the event. Therefore, it would be of value to have the number of registrants verified. But registrants should not be confused with attendees.

PROPOSAL 4: Publicity Rules

Now that BPA has moved to measure all channels of a brand through the Integrated Brand Reach audit report, should media owners be required to disclose, via a single blanket statement at the beginning of promotional pieces, the circulation/distribution source claim as either: BPA, “Publisher’s Own Data” or another third-party source?

If the promotional item is comparative in nature and involves audited and unaudited channels of a brand, then disclosure of the sources of claims must occur, particularly when the source is “Publisher’s Own Data.” However, this may not be a typical case.

As always, your input is invaluable to us as we consider potential changes to BPA’s processes. Please use the “Comment” button below to share your thoughts and ideas.

Why not tag agnostic?

Q. Since the BPA Interactive audit is dependent on the placement of JavaScript tags, why not allow a site to use any analytics tool that deploys a tag rather than only the BPA-issued one?

A. The BPA Interactive audit process uses JavaScript tags to establish site traffic levels upon which we base our audit. Key traffic metrics include page impressions, user sessions (visits), and unique browsers among others.

In developing our process we opted to implement a single-tag technology for one important reason: standardization.

Critical to the audit process is that metrics, requirements, procedures and reported results are held to an equitable standard. This ensures a level playing field for all audited properties and comparable data sets for those using audit results. 

The decision to use a single-tag technology was influenced by several factors including the results of a white paper issued by Stone Temple Consulting entitled “Web Analytics Shootout” (http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/analytics-report-august-2007.shtml). The paper focuses on the many reasons why different (tag) analytic tools produce different traffic counts and led us to conclude that a single tag, consistently applied, was the preferred audit approach.

An excerpt from the white paper:

Web analytics packages, installed on the same web site, configured the same way, produce different numbers. Why?

1. By far the biggest source of error in analytics is implementation error. There are dozens (possibly more) implementation decisions made in putting together an analytics package that affect the method of counting used by each package.
2. Placement of JavaScript on the site.  
3. Differences in the definition of what each package is counting. The way that analytics packages count visitors and unique visitors is based on the concept of sessions. There are many design decisions made within an analytics package that will cause it to count sessions differently, and this has a profound impact on the reported numbers.

Points 1 and 2 are detectable and correctable through an audit. Point 1 is a bit more difficult to address because implementation has typically taken place prior to audit and errors, while correctable, can impose upon available IT resources.

Point 3, differences in definitions of metrics, is a major issue which totally defeats standardization and makes comparison of results one of apples to oranges.

Another key aspect of the BPA Interactive audit process is the filtering of mechanical (spider/robot) and internal traffic from the results. Using a single tag and analysis platform allows BPA to control the filters and ensure they are consistently applied across all audited sites. For a given site, we can set the filters once and periodically adjust as necessary.

To allow non-BPA tags to be used would require direct access to a site’s operating system and nearly constant monitoring of filters. Such an approach is not practical both in terms of the auditor time involved and site security concerns related to outside party access.

In summary, BPA chose not to be agnostic when it comes to tags since:

1.     Tags from different analytic platforms define and count metrics differently meaning audit results are not comparable.

2.     Non-BPA tags would require extensive monitoring that involves significant auditing manpower resources and the willingness of sites to allow outside system access for checking and testing purposes.

 

BPA Interactive audit data not affected by Nielsen system glitch

You may be aware of a recent news story wherein The Nielsen Co. reported a technical glitch that caused it to underestimate the amount of time people in the U.S. spent online. Please note that the problem did not affect the BPA Interactive traffic audit. Only Nielsen’s panel-based measurements have been affected and the issue pertains to session duration (time on site) not traffic volume.

To be clear, the BPA Interactive audit uses Nielsen’s SiteCensus tagging technology as part of our process. Audit results are derived from a census-based processing system which is subject to multiple checks and balances. As such, our audit methodology and resulting traffic data remain sound.  

When examining monthly average session data from the past six months for all BPA audited sites, there has been very little fluctuation in average session duration. When compared to the previous month, variations are slight, ranging from +2.7% (July 2010) to -5.4% (September 2010). Aggregate session duration for October compared to May showed a variance of -0.3%.

As with all BPA data, you can remain confident that our audited web traffic data remains accurate and dependable.

Please contact me directly if you have any additional questions or respond using the COMMENT button below.

BPA Board moves industry closer to total brand reach measurement

Below, we have summarized new rule amendments passed by BPA’s Board of Directors at their May 2010 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes are effective July 1, 2010.

The BPA Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on the BPA home page, or by clicking here. If you wish to comment on any of the initiatives or rule, please use “Comment” link at the end of this post. If you prefer, please contact your BPA Member Relations Manager, or any of our audit staff, with any questions.

Board Actions Applying to All BPA Members

In moves that will transform BPA Worldwide from a legacy print media measurer to that of reporting the consumption of the media brand across all platforms, the BPA Board of Directors took next steps in redefining what a member is by removing the requirement that each channel of the brand be a member--now the brand is the member. Included in this transition, effective July 1st, is a new fee structure for reporting rich data and measuring multi-channels of the brand.

No Pain, No Gain

Everyone has heard this statement. It’s relevant for the recent economic crisis and certainly also relates to our professional lives. With much talk of late about lasting effects of the recession on the tradeshow industry and its current model, these words may never ring more true.

In the January 2010 issue of EXPO Magazine, Dan Cole, Vice President of Sales and Business Development for the Consumer Electronic Association, said in his Sales Q & A column that if an exhibitor is “not sufficiently disturbed by a problem” they will not “act in order to solve their pain.” He went on to say that not only does there need to be “enough pain,” there also needs to be a solution to that pain. Read more here.

The same thing can be said of show organizers. If they are not “sufficiently disturbed” by exhibitors, they will not “act in order to solve their pain.” Exhibitors are starting to voice the need for show organizers to be more accountable. We see this from industry surveys, at conference sessions and industry blogs. Most organizers continue to say that until exhibitors demand accountability, they will not be proactive in providing it; with little to no disturbance from something they do not consider a problem.