Every newspaper in the world has been following the basic 'circulation feeds ad revenue' model.
Traditional methods of increasing circulation was mostly restricted to improving editorial content. (This includes the recent trends of mixing commercial offers with editorial content via tie-ups with brand marketers.)

Another method, also traditional, that the newspaper industry has employed to increase circulation is by distributing copies in bulk to institutions, usually at highly discounted rates. But worldwide, ABC bodies have consistently resisted from accepting bulk distributed copies as part of 'paid circulation'.

The basic principle followed by ABC is that there must clearly be some payment received for each copy sold in bulk. With a rider to 'discount' the number of copies based on cover price discounting.

Although this has long been a bone of contention between newspapers & the ABC, newspaper groups continue to employ different practices as far as bulk sales is concerned. For example, British daily 'The Telegraph' distributed more than 50,000 copies in bulk to hotels like Hilton group & railways. Interestingly, for reasons not yet declared (although non-acceptance of figures by ABC is a likely reason), The Telegraph has recently cancelled most of its bulk deals. Not surprisingly, other British broadsheets have signed deals with these instituions only too willingly.

In 2002, the U.S. ABC had refused to accept bulk sales of 11 magazines belonging to the Hearst-owned National Magazine Co. titles, including flagship magazine Good Housekeeping. The reason: they were bundled free with other national & regional newspapers & received no income from this source. All 11 magazines have been forced the restate their circulations by a 5% downward revision in circulation figures.

Newspaper groups have a long-felt need to re-visit the 'bulk sales requirements' of ABC bodies. All efforts have been without any results to date. Recently however, there has been some development in that direction. As per a December '02 report published in Media Week (UK), the UK Audit Bureau of Circulations has initiated a review of the way bulk sales of newspapers and magazines are reported. It has set up a commitee (none too early as per the newspaper industry!) to define 'legitimate' bulk sales for reporting separately in circulation figures. In addition, it is also examining differences between the rules governing different publishing sectors. The committee is consulting with publishers to investigate how to distinguish between bulk sales that offer a real opportunity for sampling and those that are simply excuses to dump copies to boost circulation.