David,

How much of that "revenue" increase is real? We all know that folks aren't selling at rate card. If pages are only up 1%, what does that really mean for the industry? Are pages even a relevant method for rating page. You might want to take a look at this article on FOLIO on "plop factor" because it talks about the change in the revenue mix and the impact on ad pages as a measurement tool.
http://foliomag.com/index.php?id...418& tt_news=862
Prescott Shibles | Homepage | 08.25.05 - 8:32 pm | #

Prescott:

I have no clue if the profitability increase I'm envisioning is real, but it makes sense if we're seeing more advertisers in the b2b market this year, but at lower frequencies per-advertiser.

And of course, more ad pages per issue, and fewer issues, is obviously better financially than fewer ad pages and more issues, all other things being equal.

I agree with you and Folio: that ad pages aren't a decent measure of the market. I do think that the number of advertisers in the market is an important measure, however, and that's what I was trying to point out in the post.

PS. Some of us stick to rate card! Our client magazines do. But of course, we developed fair rate cards that reflect the value of the publications to their audiences.
David Shaw | Homepage | 08.26.05 - 6:26 am | #