By Roger Matus, Executive Vice President, Ann Carver, Analyst and Maria Tricca, Marketing Manager, Nellymoser, Inc.

A record 4468 mobile action codes, which we broadly define to include all 2D barcodes, QR codes, Microsoft Tags, and watermarks, were printed in the top 100 U.S. magazines in 2011. These codes offer publishers and advertisers a compelling way to launch print-to-mobile and print-to-social campaigns that engage readers, build brand loyalty and capture new business.

To understand how QR codes are being used in magazine advertising, we surveyed the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation. Our study included all the issues dated during 2011.

The study is limited to national titles readily available on newsstands. This eliminated publications that require a membership, such as AARP magazine, as well as regional titles. For the purposes of this study, we refer to this list as the Top 100 magazines.

To compile the data, Nellymoser counted and analyzed every page within the Top 100 magazines. For 2011, we analyzed 164,255 pages. In Q4, we found:

• 47,788 total magazine pages, up from 40,300 in Q3.
• 21,790 total advertising pages, up from 18,407 in Q3.

We also scanned every QR Code, Microsoft Tag, Spyderlynk SnapTag, BEE Tag, JagTag, Digimarc watermark and other codes with an iPhone or Android device. We activated every campaign, ran every video and visited every web page.