FT is first to quit ABCe's online reader calculations

Fri May 21 2010, 08:43 AM

The Financial Times is the first national UK newspaper to opt out of a monthly online circulation measurement carried out by ABCe, which audits readership figures for online newspapers. The Financial Times (FT) Group is sceptical about ABCe's metrics and its value to publishers and advertisers.  

"The FT no longer participates in ABCes as volume traffic measures have become less relevant to our advertisers and clients," says an FT spokesperson "We do not intend to compete on volume, rather the quality of our registered and subscriber readership."   

Earlier in the month, the FT launched its own audience measurement system, which it calls the Average Daily Global Audience (ADGA). PricewaterhouseCoopers provides the ADGA estimate with independent assurance. ADGA is calculated via a model that measures the number of people who read FT print and online journalism on an average day.