In a letter to its membership this week, BPA Worldwide announced a number of rule amendments. Glenn Hansen, president and CEO, BPA Worldwide, spoke with Publishing Executive Inbox about some of these changes, the progress BPA has made with its Web audit tool and the increasing relevance and popularity of digital magazines.
INBOX: Can you briefly detail the benefits now afforded publishers by being able to include non-requested electronic circulation in their audit statements?
GLENN HANSEN: The benefits are limited. If the publisher sold advertising in an electronic edition that is being sent to individuals who did not request the electronic version, there is now the benefit of third-party verification that the copies were delivered and the caliber of the audience by virtue of its qualifying demographics. To be clear, BPA approved allowing non-requested copies to be counted in the NON-qualified circulation, not in the qualified. (Qualified circulation data is what is reported in every table in the BPA statement. Non-Qualified data appears only on the first page and as an average.)
Publishers have always been able to send un-requested electronic copies if that was their business model; however, they were not reported anywhere in the BPA statement as if they did not exist. Now publishers can show that information.
INBOX: BPA seems to be making electronic format (digital editions) a priority, but at the same time is now doing Web site audits as well. Which do you see as a bigger priority right now?
HANSEN: Both are very important to BPA, publishers and the media buyer/advertiser communities. One is no more important than the other. Bear in mind that with the announcement of the change in rules for electronic editions, we released an inaugural comprehensive set of rules for BPA Interactive, which had not existed before.
The BPA-audited Web traffic tool is a comprehensive resource to assist media buyers and advertisers with their online marketing decisions. The tool applies a single set of industry standards to Web sites across all vertical markets, so users can access Web data for apples-to-apples comparisons when considering two or more sites. The rules now address such issues as how to compare data in promotions, definitions of Web metrics, etc.
INBOX: What about e-newsletter editions? Are they getting lost in the shuffle?
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