In Turkish media law, "page area" (yüzölçümü) does not mean one single thing. Two entirely different calculations are routinely confused with one another: the square-metre calculation that determines a media organisation's press card quota, and the column-centimetre calculation that determines the fee payable for an official advertisement. They differ in formula, in unit and in legal basis. This article sets out the official definition, the formula and worked examples for both.
Two Different Page-Area Calculations
| Press card page area | Official advertisement column-centimetre | |
|---|---|---|
| What it determines | The organisation's press card quota | The fee for the published advertisement |
| Unit | square metre (m²) | column-centimetre (newspapers) / box (news websites) |
| What it measures | The whole newspaper (all pages) | The area occupied by a single advertisement |
| Legal basis | Press Card Regulation, Article 4(1)(z) | Official Advertisement Price Tariff, Article 1 |
| Who uses it | Directorate of Communications / Press Card Commission | Press Advertising Agency (BİK) |
1. Press Card Page Area: The Square-Metre Calculation
Article 4(1)(z) of the Press Card Regulation (Basın Kartı Yönetmeliği) is explicit: "The value, expressed in square metres, of the figure obtained by multiplying together the page width, the page height and the number of pages of a periodical published in printed form."
PRESS CARD PAGE AREA
Page area (m²) = page width (m) × page height (m) × number of pages
Step by step:
1) Measure the page width and height in centimetres
2) Divide both by 100 to convert to metres
3) Multiply them by each other and by the number of pages
Example: a 16-page newspaper measuring 31.5 cm × 47 cm
width = 31.5 / 100 = 0.315 m
height = 47 / 100 = 0.470 m
single page = 0.315 × 0.470 = 0.14805 m²
total = 0.14805 × 16 = 2.3688 m²Ready-made values for the newspaper formats most commonly used in Turkey:
| Format | Width × height | Single page (m²) | 4 pages | 8 pages | 12 pages | 16 pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadsheet | 35 × 50 cm | 0.1750 | 0.700 | 1.400 | 2.100 | 2.800 |
| Berliner | 31.5 × 47 cm | 0.1481 | 0.592 | 1.184 | 1.777 | 2.369 |
| A3 | 29.7 × 42 cm | 0.1247 | 0.499 | 0.998 | 1.497 | 1.996 |
| Tabloid | 28 × 40 cm | 0.1120 | 0.448 | 0.896 | 1.344 | 1.792 |
To see which quota these values correspond to, consult the tables in the article on press card quota calculation. For daily political newspapers the critical threshold is 1.20 m²; for publications above that threshold the quota limitation for domestic bureaux is lifted entirely.
2. Official Advertisements: The Column-Centimetre Calculation
The fee for an official advertisement (resmî ilan — the statutory notices that public bodies are required to publish through the Press Advertising Agency) is calculated according to the area the advertisement occupies in the newspaper. Article 1(1) of the Official Advertisement Price Tariff currently in force (annex to Presidential Decision No. 10768 of 24/12/2025, Official Gazette 25/12/2025-33118) defines the unit as follows:
"The publication fee for official advertisements in newspapers shall be calculated on the basis of the column-centimetre unit obtained by a one-centimetre measurement over the column height which forms the basis of the newspapers' page layout, and the publication fee for official advertisements on internet news websites shall be calculated on the basis of an area of 1 box, being one centimetre in height and 3.4 centimetres in width."
OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT FEE
NEWSPAPER:
1 column-centimetre = 1 cm of the height of one column
Total column-centimetres = number of columns × advertisement height (cm)
Fee = total column-centimetres × unit price
INTERNET NEWS WEBSITE:
1 box = 1 cm height × 3.4 cm width
Fee = number of boxes × unit price
(Measurement is carried out through BİK's İLANBİS system on the
basis of the advertisement as published on ilan.gov.tr
— Tariff, Article 2(1))Unit Prices for 2026
Article 1(7) of the Tariff splits the unit price into two categories. Note that the distinction is not drawn according to whether the publication is national, regional or local, but according to average actual sales and, for internet news websites, according to the category assigned under the regulation.
| Category | Scope | Unit price |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Newspapers with average daily actual sales below 50,000 + internet news websites in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 under the Regulation on Official Advertisements and Announcements | 232 TL |
| (b) | Newspapers with average daily actual sales above 50,000 + internet news websites in the General Category under the same Regulation | 263 TL |
Mandatory Typesetting Parameters
The fee does not depend on area alone; the Tariff also binds the typesetting. If these parameters are not observed, the fee is calculated by analogy under Article 1(6) — meaning it is not possible to inflate an invoice by setting the advertisement larger than necessary.
| Parameter | Mandatory value | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Typeface | Arial | Art. 1(2) |
| Body text point size | 10 point | Art. 1(3)(a) |
| Line density | At least 12 lines per 5 centimetres | Art. 1(3)(b) |
| Single column / box width | 3.4 centimetres | Art. 1(3)(c) |
| Headline point size | 16 point | Art. 1(4) |
| Gap between headline and text | 3 millimetres | Art. 1(5)(a) |
| Border thickness | 0.5 millimetres | Art. 1(5)(b) |
| Gap between text and border | 3 millimetres | Art. 1(5)(b) |
| Spacing between words | A single space character | Art. 1(5)(c) |
Worked Examples
Example 1 — A 2-column, 15 cm advertisement in a newspaper
Newspaper : average daily actual sales below 50,000
Advertisement: 2 columns wide, 15 cm high
Total column-centimetres = 2 × 15 = 30
Unit price = 232 TL (Tariff, Art. 1(7)(a))
Fee = 30 × 232 = 6,960 TL (+ VAT)Example 2 — The same advertisement in a newspaper selling over 50,000
Total column-centimetres = 30
Unit price = 263 TL (Tariff, Art. 1(7)(b))
Fee = 30 × 263 = 7,890 TL (+ VAT)
Difference: 930 TL for the same area, i.e. roughly 13%.Example 3 — An advertisement on an internet news website
Website : Category 3 internet news website
Advertisement: 40 boxes (1 box = 1 cm height × 3.4 cm width)
Unit price = 232 TL (Tariff, Art. 1(7)(a))
Fee = 40 × 232 = 9,280 TL (+ VAT)
Note: the measurement is performed by the İLANBİS system on the
basis of the advertisement as published on ilan.gov.tr; a manual
calculation serves only as an estimate.Where Are the Minimum Page-Area Thresholds Found?
The qualities a newspaper must possess in order to be eligible to publish official advertisements are listed in Article 34 of Law No. 195 (the statute establishing the Press Advertising Agency), and subparagraph (b) expressly places "the number and size of pages" among those qualities. The statute does not, however, itself fix the numerical threshold; it leaves that to the General Assembly of the Press Advertising Agency (Article 34). Decisions taken by the General Assembly are then published in the Official Gazette under Article 36.
In the same way, the category into which an internet news website falls (Categories 1 to 5, or the General Category) is determined by the Regulation on Official Advertisements and Announcements. Because the category directly changes your unit price, this classification has real financial consequences.
Common Mistakes
- Confusing the two page-area calculations. Calculating column-centimetres for a press card quota, or square metres for an official advertisement fee, is a frequent error. One measures the newspaper, the other measures the advertisement.
- Using centimetres instead of metres. In the press card formula, width and height must be entered in metres.
- Forgetting the page count. The Regulation takes as its basis not the area of a single page but the total multiplied by the number of pages.
- Assuming VAT is included. Under Article 4(3) of the Tariff, the fees are exclusive of VAT.
- Calculating with a previous year's tariff. The Tariff is renewed every December; for the change year on year see the article on the official advertisement rate archive.
- Ignoring the typesetting rules. A typeface other than Arial, body text larger than 10 point, or loose line spacing will trigger calculation by analogy under Article 1(6).