Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has unveiled electronic tearsheets for advertisers, providing an alternative to the costly and time consuming process of physically sending newspaper copies to advertisers to confirm that ads have run.
Dow Jones has developed the system in partnership with Engage Inc, a marketing software and interactive media company.
“It is astonishing that most publishers still have to send paper copies to advertisers to prove that ads have run. Thankfully, the end of this paper tearsheet nightmare is here,” said Jeanette Schiavone, senior partner & client accounting director of MindShare New York, an advertising firm that has used the system. “The reduction in time and frustration is priceless. And initial reactions from auditors indicate that e-tearsheets satisfy our basic audit requirements too.”
Users of the system now have web access to electronic copies of advertisements they have run in The Wall Street Journal or Barron’s.
“The tearsheet procedure is tremendously inefficient for all involved,” said Doug Stoughton, director of advertising systems for The Wall Street Journal. “This system allows us to eliminate one of the last vestiges of a far more costly, labor-intensive submission, approval, and confirmation process.”
