ABCi Adds Coverage of Apps and e-Readers

In the US, the Audit Bureau of Circulations' interactive unit ABCi has teamed with California-based Verve Wireless to audit newspaper content, to provide publishers and advertisers with independently verified mobile usage data generated from apps, e-readers and mobile browsers.

Verve Wireless, which provides mobile technologies to local media companies, works with more than 600 newspaper publishers in the US, Canada and Europe.

In March, more than nine million readers accessed news from mobile devices via its mobile publishing platform; and more than four million of its mobile news apps were downloaded to devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Blackberry.

The firm anticipates that it will serve more than 2.2 billion mobile news pages in 2010.

'With all the buzz around the iPad and with use of mobile browsers exploding, newspapers and their advertisers are increasingly interested in seeing mobile metrics detailed in ABC reports,' explained Michael Lavery, ABC President and MD. 'We're pleased to be working with Verve to provide a valuable new audit service to our members in the US and Canada.'

Web sites: www.accessabc.com and www.vervewireless.com .