Verified Audit Circulation was a United States company founded by Geraldine Knight in 1951 that conducts circulation

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

s of both free and paid print

publications To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

and of traffic figures for web sites. The company also provides custom research and verifies field delivery of products such as

yellow pages The yellow pages are telephone directories of businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to Telephone direct ...

, branded delivery bags, and

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

hangers. As an independent audit firm, Verified Audit Circulation works with publication circulation figures provided by their publisher clients, to verify or adjust these circulation numbers, based on examining a publication’s printing and financial records. Field research also may be conducted to confirm circulation figures. Circulation audit findings are compiled and released in audit reports, which advertisers use to make decisions about advertising placements. On December 21, 2022, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and liquidated its assets.

History

During the mid-twentieth century, traditional paid-circulation newspapers and magazines were joined by a new publication category: free-circulation newspapers and magazines, known as trade or controlled-circulation publications. As free newspapers and magazines increased in number, in 1951, Geraldine Knight founded Verified Audit Circulation as the first company dedicated to auditing these publications. Subsequently, Verified expanded its services to include audits of paid publications, free rack-distributed publications, and products delivered to the door. The addition of web site audits provided site publishers with independent confirmation of site visitor activity and with assurance of web site ad delivery. By 2008, the company was auditing more than 1,000 free and 250 paid publications, along with more than 100 weekly

alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting l ...

s. Its audit clients included ''The Washington Post'', ''The Chicago Tribune'', and Questex Media. In 2009, Verified developed and launched an expanded form of integrated audit report to track a larger range of circulation and audience parameters for clients. The new report type addresses the growing diversification of media, beyond print and into electronic formats. The cross-platform audit report supplements print-circulation figures with data on digital editions, events, web sites, webinars, e-newsletters, and supplements. During 2011, Verified expanded its circulation guidelines to allow publishers to include publications distributed at trade shows and events among their qualified circulation figures. Prior to the update, trade show and event distribution of publications counted as unqualified circulation.

Membership

Verified clients are known as members of the organization, and they have full access to the circulation-reporting and member resources on the Verified Audit Circulation web site. Media buyers, advertisers, and

advertising agencies An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

are eligible for free associate membership, which provides online access to audit reports, publisher statements, circulation data downloads, and a Verified e-newsletter. Verified Audit Circulation is headquartered in

Larkspur, California Larkspur is a city in Marin County, California, United States. Larkspur is located south of San Rafael, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 Census, the city's population was 13,064. Larkspur's Police Department is shared with that of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verified Audit Circulation Newspapers circulation audit Accounting firms of the United States Organizations based in California Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy