Digital Circ Doubles -- But Is Dwarfed by Print

Ink on paper still dominates magazine circulation. A new analysis by the Audit Bureau of Circulations found that although magazines more than doubled their paid digital circulation in the most recent reporting period, print retained the overwhelming majority of the magazine business. Digital circulation rose to an estimated 3.29 million in the second half of 2011, up from 1.46 million in the year-earlier period, according to the Audit Bureau. Despite that growth, digital represented only about 1% of the reporting magazines' total paid and verified circulation. Still, the Audit Bureau can read the writing on the tablet, so to speak, and its board of directors recently endorsed an expanded publisher's statement giving ad buyers more information on digital circulation. A sign of more digital growth to come: Magazines report that, while they rely most on business-sponsored digital circulation, a growing percentage of digital readership is now individually paid. For more, see the Ad Age news story at http://adage.com/article/media/magazines-digital-circulation-doubles/233771/ 

Canadian Regulators Get Tough on Spam

In a drive to block spam, Canada has erected higher hurdles for e-mail and text-message marketing. The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission has now released regulations on how marketers can comply with Canada’s new anti-spam act. Unlike the U.S. CAN-SPAM act, which allows electronic marketers to send unsolicited messages to consumers provided they include a way for recipients to opt-out, the Canadian regulations require a marketer to have received express written or verbal consent from a recipient before sending an e-mail or text message. The regulations also require commercial messages to include the name of the sender, a mailing address, either the e-mail/web address of the sender or a phone number that connects to an agent or voice mail system, and a “consumer-friendly” unsubscribe option. If you ignore the regulations, you risk a maximum monetary penalty per violation of $1 million for an individual and $10 million for business entities, like e-tailers. If U.S. anti-spam efforts emulate their northern neighbor's, it will definitely be a game-changer for electronic marketing. For more detail, see http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/03/30/canada-gets-serious-about-combating-spam