Apple and Amazon Deliver Loophole to Consumer Magazines

Don’t be surprised if you start seeing special offers soon for magazines’ iPad or Kindle Fire versions of back issues. Sketchy sales data from Apple and Amazon have led to a loophole for magazines whose circulation is checked by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The loophole will enable them to bolster the reported circulation numbers of a weak-selling issue with single-copy sales of better-selling issues.

For printed magazines, ABC is accustomed to publishers providing elaborate reports that document exactly how many copies of an issue were sent to legitimate subscribers or sold to customers. Not so with Apple and Amazon,