MediaPost: Digital Subs Loom As New Magazine Circulation Issue

The two main auditors of magazine circulation, Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and BPA International, have both adopted very loose measures to indicate whether someone is an online subscriber to a magazine. They, in effect, only look at whether or not a magazine has sent out a confirmation email to the alleged subscriber. So adding these "digital subscribers" into the total circulation figure is proving problematic, not because alert buyers are complaining, but rather because two tech publishers are fighting over it. IDG has been complaining that Ziff Davis improperly inflated its figures to the tune of as many as 170,000 subscribers by running promotional give-aways that IDG says are probably seldom read.

The lame method of counting subscribers came from a well-intentioned early idea that everything should be done to encourage the growing new medium. But now, in the face of sophisticated tracking information publishers have that is able to contradict such loose figures, it seems rather naive - a throwback to the pre-bubble days when digital was so obscure there wasn't a serious threat of the additional numbers making a significant difference.

In response to complaints, the audit firms have formed a committee.