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

The number of mobile action codes, such as QR codes, Microsoft Tags and digital watermarks, in the Top 100 U.S. magazines jumped dramatically in Q2 2012. A total of 2200 codes were printed during the quarter, up from 1365 in Q1 (61% growth). This is more than double the 1062 codes printed one year earlier in Q2 2011 (107%).

To understand how these mobile action codes are being used in magazines, Nellymoser surveyed every issue of the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation in 2011 and the first six months of 2012. The study is limited to national titles readily available on newsstands. This eliminated publications that require a membership, such as AARP magazine and regional titles. For the purposes of this study, we refer to this list as the Top 100 magazines.

To compile the data, Nellymoser analyzed every page in each issue within the Top 100 magazines. In Q2 2012, we counted:

• 46,132 total magazine pages, up from 38,719 in Q1 2012.
• 19,976 total advertising pages, up from 15,691 in Q1 2012.

As the chart below shows, 2200 codes were printed in Q2 2012 versus 1062 during the same period last year.

Action Codes By Quarter

Nellymoser activated every QR Code, Microsoft Tag, Digimarc watermark, SpyderLynk SnapTag, JagTag, recognizable image and any other code we found with an iPhone or Android device. We ran every campaign, watched every video and visited every web page.

To understand how QR codes are being used in magazine advertising, Nellymoser surveyed the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation. This study includes all issues dated during Q1 2012 as well as information from previous Nellymoser studies of magazines published in 2011.

The study is limited to national titles readily available on newsstands. This eliminated regional publications and any that require a membership, such as AARP The Magazine. 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 in the Top 100 magazines. We analyzed 38,719 pages in Q1, including 15,691 advertising pages.

Nellymoser scanned every QR code, Microsoft Tag, SpyderLynk SnapTag, Digimarc watermark and all other codes with an iPhone or Android phone. We activated every campaign, ran every video and visited every web page.