BPA Worldwide Blog

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. 

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).

 

 

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 Position Paper: Analytics are not an audit

BPA Worldwide has released an important position paper, “Analytics Are Not an Audit,” outlining the differences between web analytics and audited traffic data.

Citing specific examples, the paper explains how different analytic packages can produce wildly different traffic data from the same site depending upon how a tool defines various web metrics. At the same time, data results from different sites are not comparable since there is no way to tell if mitigating factors are the same across all sites measured.

To download the entire position piece, “Analytics Are Not an Audit,” please click here.

I welcome your comments and input regarding this important position piece.

New BPA rules and Board actions from December '09 meeting

Below, we have summarized new rule amendments passed by BPA’s Board of Directors at their December 2009 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes are effective immediately.

The Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on the BPA home page, or by clicking here. Please use the “Comment” link below this blog entry to provide any feedback or additional questions.

Board Actions Applying to Business Publications, Consumer Magazines and Newspapers

Digital Reporting–Joint Industry Committee created.  In May 2009 the BPA Board voted to establish a Joint Industry Committee (JIC) to study the evolution of digital magazines and newspapers and establish future reporting criteria. The JIC is made up of media owners, buyers of online media and digital media enablers (DMEs)—and they met four times prior to the December Board meeting.

What's your opinion? BPA committees consider new rules/rule amendments

It's that time of year again. BPA's committees around the globe are starting to review existing rules for possible amendment as well as new rules that may affect BPA's membership. BPA's Board of Directors will make the final decisions at its semi-annual meeting on December 10, 2009 in New York City.

Below I have listed the rules being considered followed by summaries of those rules. I ask that you submit your opinions and questions regarding those rules that may affect your organization by using the "Comment" section found after this blog entry.

• AGE AND SOURCE REPORTING
• DIRECT REQUEST
• DIGITAL EDITIONS: PHYSICAL ADDRESSES
• DIGITAL EDITION CONVERSIONS
• DIGITAL EDITION REPORTING
• BARTER TRANSACTIONS
• CHANGE OF FREQUENCY
• PRODUCTION STATUS
• PARAGRAPH 8 – BUSINESS PUBLICATION STATEMENTS
• CHARITABLE DONATIONS
• PUBLICITY
• QUALIFIED SHOW COPIES
• SPONSORED CIRCULATION
• AUDIT REPORTS

BPA Worldwide rolls out Brand Reach audit report to meet demand for verification of all touch-points

Like most media owners today, Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Stamats Business Media was looking to retain and grow marketing revenue in an increasingly diverse media landscape. Stamats, which publishes multiple titles across several distinct media platforms – print, online, e-newsletters – recognized that increasing revenue lies with a better understanding and identification of all touch-points its brand has with consumers. This information would be key to broadening its selling scope.

Stamats, upon hearing of BPA’s new offering at the American Business Media (ABM) Spring Meeting, turned to BPA Worldwide, the global leader in auditing media, for help. Together, using Stamats relational database, they began testing BPA’s new Brand Reach^sm audit service which allows media owners to better monetize their consumer information held across multiple media platforms and offer more creative but effective options to advertisers interested in extending their brand awareness and reach.