Business media qualifying digital distribution
Note: Contact your audit manager if reporting digital for the first time to ensure qualification.
Delivery of paid digital version/edition subscription may be via the pull or push method. For paid digital subscriptions served via the pull method, either purchased individually or by the subscriber's employer, it is not required to email the subscriber when the product is available on the restricted-access website. If subscriptions are purchased in bulk by third parties, designated recipients must be emailed.
Delivery of the qualified nonpaid digital version/edition subscription may be via the push or pull method. For qualified digital nonpaid subscriptions served via the pull method, email notification to the subscriber of the product's availability on the restricted-access website qualifies as delivery.
Bounce Back Qualifications: For paid digital distribution, bounce backs must be accounted for if the publications use the push method, but optional if using the pull method.
If a publication is using either the pull method or push method for qualified nonpaid digital distribution, then the publication needs to account for bounce backs.
Copies identified as delivery issue bounce backs may be included in qualified distribution for a limited time frame provided the delivery issue associated with the bounce back is rectified, or the subscriber is purged from the subscriber file in accord with the following scale:
| Daily | 10 issues |
| Weekly | 4 issues |
| Biweekly | 2 issues |
| Monthly | 1 issue |
Note: In some situations, the initial delivery of a subscriber’s digital version/edition may take place outside of the publisher’s normal means of distribution or subsequent to the delivery of the publication’s main file. In those instances, the above schedule is effective with the next scheduled delivery of the main file (both print and digital versions/editions). As a result, any initial digital version/edition distribution that is served outside of the publisher’s normal distribution channel or subsequent to the distribution to the main file, is not subject to the bounce back schedule. The initial digital version/edition distribution is not eligible for inclusion with qualified circulation.
Example 1: An email notice is sent to a new subscriber that the digital version of the January issue of Business News Today is now available (the subscriber's first issue of service). This email bounced back as undeliverable to the publisher. The publisher corrected the email prior to the delivery of the February issue and the issue was successfully received. In this scenario, the bounced-back issue (January) may be reported as qualified circulation since the bounce-back email was rectified in the appropriate time frame (prior to the delivery of the February issue).
Example 2: An email notice is sent to a new subscriber that the digital version of the January issue of Business News Today is now available (the subscriber's first issue of service). This email bounced back as undeliverable to the publisher. The publisher did not correct the email prior to the February issue and that email also bounced. The publisher stopped the subscriber account with the February issue. In this scenario, the bounced emails disqualify the January and February issues from AAM reporting and are not eligible for inclusion in circulation claims.