The Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) will discontinue its print media audit services this month as it turns its focus to addressing best practice and regulations in influencer marketing through its Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) arm.

The AMAA has historically conducted audits of print media for both the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), for major publications that sell their print and digital copies, and the Circulation Audits Bureau (CAB), for publications that distribute all or a large portion of their copies for free.

The ABC audit, conducted every six months, reports the average total paid sales per issue, and reporting of average net paid print sales and average net paid digital sales per issue. The CAB audit establishes the average net distribution per issue of a publication in a defined audit period and reports how the publication was distributed to the recipients.

It follows several years of groundwork by the AMAA, which has worked with advertisers, media, PR and talent agencies through its Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) to develop best practice guides and tools to promote industry regulation and leading standards. Since its launch in 2019 with the AiMCO Code of Practice, the industry has leaned into support best practice through tools, guides, webinars and the new AiMCO Accreditation program developed to provide clear guidance on industry agreed convention and ensuring advertising meets Australian Consumer Law.

"The focus of the AMAA has always been on providing industry-wide best practice services that support advertising spend. Where the print audit service delivered a consistent, reliable verified framework, the new AiMCO initiatives are focused on providing the same confidence to advertisers and their agencies working in influencer marketing," said AMAA Chairman, Jason Tonelli.

The Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) will continue and is now the main focus for the AMAA Board with a new direction under new Managing Director, Patrick Whitnall.

"The changing nature of print media and the growing focus on readership and other reporting metrics has resulted in a decrease in the need for traditional media audits, and while the AMAA has continued to provide this service over the last four years, the time is right to shift our attention," Tonelli said.

From this month, the print audit services offered through the ABC and CAB brands are discontinuing. All AMAA members have been informed of the decision and the last audits completed were ABC for the period ending June 2023 and CAB for the period ending September 2023. AMAA members will have the option to engage independent auditors to conduct audits for their publications.