Rules & Resources
Consumer Magazine Support Center

Verified and Sponsored Sales Updates with FAQs

Effective with January 1, 2008, Issues

Changes were made at the July 2007 board meeting to the current qualification and reporting of both verified and sponsored sales. The changes that were made can be broken down into three circulation categories: the allowance of back copies served in verified and sponsored sources, disclosure of the full term of service of verified circulation, and the elimination of public place sponsored sales as a category of paid circulation.

Use of Back Copies

The service of back copies to verified and sponsored circulation sources was reviewed to determine the relevance of back copy service in the verified and sponsored circulation categories. The purpose of allowing back copies is to allow a publisher to quickly start service to a new subscriber that has requested the magazine.

At the July 2007 meeting, the board gave unanimous consent to not allow back copies as qualified paid sponsored or verified circulation served to the following sources:

  • Verified and sponsored public place copies to include those copies placed in public places or waiting rooms for use by patrons of the location, as well as in-room hotel copies.
  • Verified individual use and sponsored individual addressed copies where the recipient did not make a request for the publication through a qualified direct request per ABC rules.

This update to the rule is effective with all issues dated Jan. 1, 2008, and later.

Full Term of Service

At the July 2007 meeting, the board took action regarding requirement for full-term disclosure to be made by a publisher claiming verified circulation.

Unanimous consent was given to modify rules, effective with the Jan. 2008 issue, to require publishers that elect to report any copies served to a public place or individual for any issue as verified, to make disclosure of all copies served as part of the term on file to that location or individual as verified circulation.

Elimination of Public Place Sponsored Sales as a Paid Category

At the July 2007 board meeting the sponsored sales category was reviewed for future reporting as a paid circulation category.

At the meeting, the board gave unanimous consent to remove public place sponsored sales from the paid circulation category effective with Jan. 1, 2008 issues.

Individually addressed sponsored sales will continue to remain a paid circulation category.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2008 any public place sponsored sales that adhere to all qualification requirements of verified public place (i.e., three copies per location, annual opt-out, etc) are eligible to be included in the verified category on the Publisher's Statement. A publisher has the option to also report information related to fees paid by a third party for copies delivered to public places. This reporting will appear on the statement and will be posted to the www.accessabc.com Web site once available.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Why were these changes made to verified?

A: The changes the ABC board made will further strengthen the credibility of the verified circulation category and provide advertisers with more transparency and accountability.

Q: Will verified continue to change?

A: ABC’s board and committees have listened to many industry leaders and gathered extensive feedback on the use and purpose of verified circulation and its status in the marketplace. As the verified circulation category continues to mature, the board will monitor its progress.

Q: When will these three rule changes take effect?

A: At its July 2007 meeting, the ABC board of directors made three modifications to the rules governing verified and sponsored circulation. All of the changes are effective with Jan. 1, 2008, issues.

Q: Back Copy Question—Magazine X is currently serving the March 2008 issue and the February 2008 is still open, can we start service of a new verified or individually addressed sponsored subscription with the February issue like we do for paid individual subscription circulation sources or would it need to begin with March issue?

A: For all verified and sponsored—public place and any verified and sponsored—individual addressed that are not directly requested by the consumer would need to serve the March issue to these new starts.

February is considered a back copy and would be eligible for new paid subscriptions and direct request by individual sponsored and verified, but not eligible for public place or not directly requested individual sponsored and verified.

Q: Why didn’t sponsored individual use move into verified?

A: No action was taken by the board on sponsored individually addressed at this meeting, the board did ask liaison committees to review this specific category for future discussion.

Q: What’s the transition plan for public place sponsored subscriptions no longer being a paid reporting category? For instance the subscription starts with September 2007 and expires with August 2008?

A: Effective January 2008, any copy that is public place sponsored needs to be qualified and reported as verified to be counted on a Publisher's Statement. Based on the direction of the ABC board, this is effective with an issue date, not for sales before and after a point in time.

Q: How should a publisher report circulation that is provided to public place locations where rules of verified are not being met as a result of either no consecutive issuance (two issues), no opt-out, or quantity is being served greater than allowed by the rules?

A: Any copy claimed in the verified circulation category must be served in accordance with the current verified rules. If a publisher has circulation that does not meet these current rules, then a publisher could explore reporting of circulation under analyzed non-paid as bulk or other sources depending upon the specifics of the program. In addition, a publisher could always elect to continue service of the copies and report as non-qualified non-paid circulation.



Updated 11/27/07