Online Readers Count, Too

The U.S. Audit Bureau of Circulations has decided to count readers who log on to a newspaper website toward the paper’s official circulation, according to a Press-Gazette report and the ABC website.

The combination of print and online readership figures should please publishers, who have complained that print-only circulation figures present a false picture and discourage advertisers. The decline in newspaper advertising has accelerated in 2007, particularly in classifieds, putting some American newspaper stocks into a tailspin even at high-profile companies such as The New York Times and Gannett.

Beginning this fall, newspapers will be able to report in-market print, online and net combined readership as measured by Scarborough Research. Monthly Web site unique visitors also will be reported from sources such as Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore Inc. Information will be available to ABC members in a customizable online database.

More information is available from the Press-Gazette and the ABC.