Yellow Book USA Begins Full Disclosure of Circulation Audits.Audit Disclosure is First in the Industry UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Yellow Book USA has begun conducting full circulation audits on all Yellow Book directories, and is the first major yellow pages publisher to transparently audit and disclose its circulation figures. The audits are being conducted for Yellow Book by Certified Audit of Circulations (CAC), the highly regarded not-for-profit circulation and research organization founded in 1956. As the first major yellow pages publisher to audit its circulation figures and disclose those results, Yellow Book will be making widely available circulation numbers for all directories with a circulation over 100,000. Results will be posted over the course of the year for free on the CAC website at www.certifiedaudit.com for all advertisers, publishers, and Certified Marketing Representatives (CMRs), the agencies that handle national accounts in the yellow pages industry. The cost of conducting circulation audits and delivery verification will be borne by Yellow Book at no cost to advertisers or agencies. Yellow Book expects that directories under the 100,000 circulation level will be verified by means of a delivery verification process conducted by a leading independent third party. "We believe advertisers and CMRs are entitled to transparent, unbiased, third-party audits in order to have faith in the circulation numbers claimed by yellow pages publishers," said Joe Walsh, president and CEO of Yellow Book USA. "We welcome other major yellow pages publishers to follow our lead in providing this invaluable service to our industry." "I applaud Yellow Book for taking a leadership position for auditing its directories and sharing those results with the national advertising community," said Janice Lucente, marketing manager, Allstate Insurance. "While I appreciate that most major publishers conduct some form of delivery verification, only audited circulation allows an advertiser complete transparency on the number of directories distributed in a particular area. I hope that all publishers will recognize that audited circulation is an extremely important measure of accountability for national advertisers like Allstate." Results will provide detailed information at the zip code level proving that the actual number of directories distributed by Yellow Book corresponds to the claimed amount of distribution. No other major yellow pages publisher conducts and makes available to advertisers full audit information on all of its major directories. Yellow Book has long advocated, and provided for advertisers and CMRs, a transparent circulation verification process to provide confirmation of the company's distribution, but has never before posted all the results publicly. Delivery figures are obtained through telephone verification of a representative sample of households within the delivery scope. For delivery verifications conducted between September 2004 and August 2005 on more than 500 Yellow Book directories, CAC reported that Yellow Book achieved an average delivery confirmation rate of 96%. "We are pleased Yellow Book has chosen CAC as their independent auditor," says Mark Stoecklin, CEO of Certified Audit of Circulations. "We believe conducting circulation audits and allowing free access to the data are major steps for the yellow pages industry." To review the Yellow Book reports on the CAC website, individuals are asked to contact Mark Stoecklin of CAC for a password. He can be contacted at (973) 785-3000 Extension 131, or emailed at mstoecklin@certifiedaudit.com. About Yellow Book USA Yellow Book USA is the #1 independent publisher of print and online yellow pages directories nationwide. Founded in 1930, Yellow Book expects to publish more than 970 printed directory editions in its 2007 fiscal year and to circulate approximately 126 million books. Yellowbook.com, the company's online directory, reaches millions of users via computers and mobile phones, through organic web searches and through Yellow Book's network of partner sites. The company's humorous advertising campaign has made Yellow Book one of the nation's most recognized brands. Yellow Book has approximately 6,000 sales employees, one of the largest media sales forces in the U.S. Over the past decade Yellow Book has made over 50 acquisitions and now operates in 47 states plus the District of Columbia. Visit the company's website at www.yellowbook.com. About Certified Audit of Circulations Certified Audit of Circulations was established in 1956 as a not-for-profit circulation audit and research organization serving publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies to report accurate and reliable reporting of circulation data and market information. CAC is a member of the International Federation of Audit Bureau of Circulations (IFABC), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), and other leading industry associations. |
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