The monthly official announcement quota is the measure that determines how many official announcements you will publish in a given month. Article 71 of the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements defines it as the measure forming the basis for the proportion in which the official announcements likely to be published in a place of publication or quota location within a month will be distributed to each of the newspapers or online news sites there.
The formula
Article 74 gives a one-sentence formula: the monthly official announcement quota of newspapers or online news sites is found by multiplying the total indicator number applied to them by the official announcement coefficient to be calculated at the end of each month.
| Step | Operation | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find your basic indicator number | Art. 46 (newspaper) / Art. 64 (site) |
| 2 | Determine your additional indicator rates | Arts. 47–51 / 65–68 |
| 3 | Calculate the total indicator: basic + (basic × rate) | Art. 72(2) |
| 4 | Learn the coefficient at the end of the month | Art. 73 |
| 5 | Total indicator × coefficient = your monthly quota | Art. 74 |
Which elements are taken into account?
Article 71 lists the elements taken into account in determining the quota separately by type of publication. The list shows what feeds the indicators.
| Newspapers (Art. 71(2)) | Online news sites (Art. 71(3)) |
|---|---|
| Surface area | Number of editorial staff |
| Number of editorial staff | Number of content items |
| Daily actual sales figure | Number of unique visitors |
| Distribution and sales method | Number of page views |
| Printing technique and locations | Time on page |
| Number of issues within a month | Sharing of official announcements on social media accounts |
The last row of the right-hand column explains how the announcement reporting additional indicator (Art. 68) feeds into the quota. The last row of the left-hand column shows why publication frequency directly determines the basic indicator for newspapers.
The quota is calculated over 30 days (Art. 75)
Article 75(1) regulates how the calculation is brought down to a daily basis: a monthly quota is calculated over 30 days, and one thirtieth of the applied total indicator number is taken as the basis in calculating a daily quota.
There is one exception: where so stated in the declaration given under Law No. 5187, that number is taken as 26 for newspapers not published on one day of the week, limited to those days.
The second paragraph deals with partial periods: where for any reason official announcements must be given for less than a month, the amount to be published is found on the basis of the daily quotas.
Where can the quota tables be seen?
Article 71(4) regulates transparency: the official announcement quota and distribution tables relating to the announcements published between the first and last days of each month are opened, following the finalisation of end-of-month operations, to the access of the relevant newspapers or online news sites through İLANBİS, by place of publication or quota location.
Following those tables regularly is the most direct way of seeing whether new publications have joined your quota location and how your share has changed.
A separate table for large national newspapers (Art. 76)
Article 76 allows a separate quota table for large-scale national newspapers. The Board of Directors is empowered to draw up a separate official announcement quota and distribution table, irrespective of place of publication, for national newspapers holding the right to publish official announcements that have met the following conditions for 12 months backwards, or to bring that application to an end:
- Each issue having daily actual sales through newsagents of not less than 25,000 copies and a surface area of not less than 3.00 square metres
- Employing at least twice the editorial staff in proportion to the minimum numbers and duties for the 1st Category in Article 38, with the qualifications in Articles 18 and 19
- Daily actual sales exceeding 50,000 copies
A signed request must reach the Agency to be included in the table; if inspection or examination establishes that the conditions are met, the newspaper is included from the following month. If daily actual sales fall below 50,000 the newspaper returns to the tables for its own place of publication.
Conclusion
Monthly quota = total indicator number × official announcement coefficient. The total indicator is in your hands; the coefficient forms at the end of the month according to the announcement volume in your quota location and the indicators of the other publications there. In the daily calculation one thirtieth of the total indicator is the basis; where stated in the declaration, the divisor is 26 for newspapers not published one day a week.
How the coefficient is calculated is covered in the coefficient guide, indicator numbers in the indicator guide and unused quota in the carryover guide.