Verified Audit Circulation

Last updated
Verified Audit Circulation
TypePrivate company
IndustryPublishing
FoundedLos Angeles (1951)
FounderGeraldine Knight
DefunctClosed December 2022
FateChapter 7 bankruptcy
Headquarters
San Rafael, California
Area served
United States
Key people
Tim Prouty (CEO)
ProductsCirculation audit reports
delivery verification reports
research
Website Verifiedaudit.com

Verified Audit Circulation was a United States company founded by Geraldine Knight in 1951 that conducts circulation audits of both free and paid print publications and of traffic figures for web sites. The company also provides custom research and verifies field delivery of products such as yellow pages, branded delivery bags, and door hangers. [1]

Contents

As an independent audit firm, Verified Audit Circulation works with publication circulation figures provided by their publisher clients, to verify or adjust these circulation numbers, based on examining a publication’s printing and financial records. Field research also may be conducted to confirm circulation figures. Circulation audit findings are compiled and released in audit reports, which advertisers use to make decisions about advertising placements. [2]

On December 21, 2022, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and liquidated its assets. [3]

History

During the mid-twentieth century, traditional paid-circulation newspapers and magazines were joined by a new publication category: free-circulation newspapers and magazines, known as trade or controlled-circulation publications. As free newspapers and magazines increased in number, in 1951, Geraldine Knight founded Verified Audit Circulation as the first company dedicated to auditing these publications. [4]

Subsequently, Verified expanded its services to include audits of paid publications, free rack-distributed publications, and products delivered to the door. [5] The addition of web site audits provided site publishers with independent confirmation of site visitor activity and with assurance of web site ad delivery. [6]

By 2008, the company was auditing more than 1,000 free and 250 paid publications, along with more than 100 weekly alternative newspapers. [7] Its audit clients included The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, [8] and Questex Media. [9]

In 2009, Verified developed and launched an expanded form of integrated audit report to track a larger range of circulation and audience parameters for clients. The new report type addresses the growing diversification of media, beyond print and into electronic formats. The cross-platform audit report supplements print-circulation figures with data on digital editions, events, web sites, webinars, e-newsletters, and supplements. [10] [11]

During 2011, Verified expanded its circulation guidelines to allow publishers to include publications distributed at trade shows and events among their qualified circulation figures. Prior to the update, trade show and event distribution of publications counted as unqualified circulation. [12]

Membership

Verified clients are known as members of the organization, and they have full access to the circulation-reporting and member resources on the Verified Audit Circulation web site. Media buyers, advertisers, and advertising agencies are eligible for free associate membership, which provides online access to audit reports, publisher statements, circulation data downloads, and a Verified e-newsletter. [13]

Verified Audit Circulation is headquartered in Larkspur, California. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Print circulation</span> Number of printed copies of a publication

Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some issues are distributed without cost to the reader. Readership figures are usually higher than circulation figures because of the assumption that a typical copy is read by more than one person.

Next Magazine was a Chinese weekly magazine, published online in Hong Kong from 1990 to 2021. Owned by Jimmy Lai, the magazine was the number one news magazines in both markets in terms of audited circulation and AC Nielsen reports. A Taiwanese version of Next Magazine was published from 2001 to 2018, and the online version of Taiwan's Next Magazine ended in 2020.

The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) is a North American non-profit industry organization founded in 1914 by the Association of National Advertisers to help ensure media transparency and trust among advertisers and media companies. Originally known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), today AAM is a source of verified media information and technology platform certifications, providing standards, audit services and data for the advertising and publishing industries. It is one of more than three dozen such organizations operating worldwide, affiliated with the International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations (IFABC).

<i>The Sun</i> (Malaysia) Free tabloid newspaper from Malaysia

The Sun is Malaysia's first national free daily newspaper in tabloid form. Available from Mondays to Fridays except on public holiday, with a target audience of white-collar workers and urban youth.

A media monitoring service, a press clipping service or a clipping service as known in earlier times, provides clients with copies of media content, which is of specific interest to them and subject to changing demand; what they provide may include documentation, content, analysis, or editorial opinion, specifically or widely. These services tend to specialize their coverage by subject, industry, size, geography, publication, journalist, or editor. The printed sources, which could be readily monitored, greatly expanded with the advent of telegraphy and submarine cables in the mid- to late-19th century; the various types of media now available proliferated in the 20th century, with the development of radio, television, the photocopier and the World Wide Web. Though media monitoring is generally used for capturing content or editorial opinion, it also may be used to capture advertising content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations</span>

The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations (IFABC) is an organisation founded in 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden.

BPA Worldwide is a United States-based company that provides independent, third-party audits of audience claims of business-to-business and consumer media and events. Its membership includes magaziness, newspapers, web sites, events, email newsletters, digital magazines and other advertiser-supported media produced by its members. The company is a not-for-profit, (501 organization, and is one of the largest auditor of media in the world in terms of membership, which consists of media owners, marketer companies and advertising agencies. In addition to its U.S. headquarters, BPA operates offices in Canada, the UK, and China. BPA Worldwide currently performs nearly 2,600 audits engagements in more than 15 countries.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is a non-profit organisation owned and developed by the media industry. ABC delivers industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications, digital channels and events. The company also verifies data, processes and good practice to these and other industry-agreed standards.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decline of newspapers</span> Decline of newspaper sales

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newspaper</span> Scheduled publication containing news of events, articles, features, editorials, and advertisements

A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, art, and science. They often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns.

Community paper is a term used by publishers, advertisers and readers to describe a range of publications that share a common service to their local community and commerce. Their predominant medium being newsprint, often free and published at regular weekly or monthly intervals, Community Papers are distinguished by their demonstrable levels of local engagement, rather than by the scope of their content. While Merriam-Webster and other dictionaries have yet to define Community Paper, the term has long been incorporated into the actual name of six state, five regional and one national trade association of hometown publishers of passing events, both general and commercial. While the diverse composition of their membership may cast a wide tent over the term, all Community Papers have a Nameplate, bear a Masthead, are fixed in print and dated by edition, are published at regular intervals, and are archived internally at a minimum. Whether a specific Community Paper might more resemble a Shopper or a Newspaper, all such local papers fit the dictionary definition of Publication and Periodical, and are clearly distinguished from Flyers, Handbills and Circulars which are printed, usually at sporadic intervals, and serve a limited, often singular commercial interest.

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The Norwegian Audit Bureau of Circulations is a company that monitors the print runs of Norwegian newspapers, magazines, and weekly publications, and offers advice on calculating circulation numbers. It was established in 2001 and is owned by:

References

  1. ↑ "Resource Focus: Verified Audit Circulation". Article. MagazineLaunch. 13 June 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  2. ↑ Armor, Jennifer. "How to Purchase Print Advertising Wisely". National Mail Order Association. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Verified Audit Circulation files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy". 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  4. ↑ "Company History". Verified Audit Circulation. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Company History". Verified Audit Circulation. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  6. ↑ "Resource Focus: Verified Audit Circulation". Article. MagazineLaunch.com. 13 June 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Hanzlik, Mark (February 2008). "Print Circulation Audit Firms Continue to Survive in the 21st Century". Article. themacwizard.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Circulation and City and Regional Magazine Association". Brochure. GulfShore Media, LLC.
  9. ↑ "Verified Completes First Integrated Media Audits on Questex Brands". Article. Audience Development.com. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Questex Adopts New Total Audience Audit Process". Article. FOLIO. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  11. ↑ "Verified Completes First Integrated Media Audits on Questex Brands". Article. Audience Development.com. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Mendolera, Katrina (14 June 2011). "Magazines & newspapers can now audit trade show circulation". Article. Vocus.com. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  13. ↑ "Verified Associate Member Qualification Form". Verified Audit Circulation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  14. ↑ Hanzlik, Mark (1 February 2008). "Print Circulation Audit Firms Continue to Survive in the 21st Century". Article. themacwizard.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
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