Advertisers are calling for independent audits of Middle East newspapers and magazines as a way to boost confidence in the publishing industry.
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Few media companies in the region undertake official audits of their publications, which are used by prospective advertisers to determine how much money to allocate to particular titles.
BPA Worldwide, an auditor of media titles active in the Middle East, said 83 regional publications currently had or were in the process of applying for independent verification of their circulation figures.
But interest in professional audits is "gradually" picking up, said Zubair Siddiqui, who is a member of the regional advisory board of BPA Worldwide.
"The demand for using audited titles from advertisers is increasing," said Mr Siddiqui. "There is a huge emphasis from advertisers towards bringing greater transparency across the markets."
He said there had been a "surge" in interest from regional titles about undertaking audits, although the actual number of those having audits had remained about the same because many titles had shut down during the recession.
Interest in auditing had been led by the English-language media, he added. Mr Siddiqui is also the managing director of the media agency UM Dubai, which plans advertising campaigns on behalf of its clients. "We encourage planners and buyers to skew investments towards audited titles," he said.
Other advertising executives also reported an uplift in interest in the auditing media.
"Auditing means that you get into a stronger consideration set," said Mohan Nambiar, the chief executive of the media planning agency MEC in the Middle East and North Africa. "In this market [with] no numbers and no credibility, it adds a lot of weight."
The newspaper Sport 360, which is produced from the twofour54 media zone in Abu Dhabi, is currently applying for a BPA audit.
"Advertisers are being more and more professional about the way they do their plans," said Michael Chalhoub, the chief executive of Sport 360'sparent company Gulf Sports Media. "When every client is being very careful about every dime that they are spending, they want to make sure that they are actually spending for the circulation that is being claimed."
Mr Chalhoub said he believed the audit of Sport 360 would make "a big difference" when approaching advertisers. "We don't have our BPA audit numbers yet, but we are fairly confident about them because we know our circulation figures; we know that we haven't been lying to the market at all."
Didier Brun, the publisher of Sport 360, said the newspaper had a circulation of 35,000, which he expected to be proven in the pending audit. "Showing this transparency to the market was very important." Mr Brun said advertisers would "increasingly" regard audits as important.
"It's like, 'you're audited now, we can start looking at you seriously. If you're not audited, first of all we will discount your circulation number by half,'" he said.
Sport 360 has combined its Thursday and Friday titles as a "weekend edition" and now publishes six days a week. The title claims to have doubled its advertising revenues over the past six months, although it says as a new title in the market it started from a low base.
"That's the kind of trend we've seen in the paper, with long-term deals being signed, and not just chasing an ad here and there," said Mr Brun.
Mr Siddiqui said the publication of Sport 360's circulation figures, due in January, would "determine how it has performed in the market".
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