Claritas Converts ArtsAI, The Delete Act, Importance of Social Search, & More

Today in the Business of Podcasting

How Claritas Aims to Bring Google and Meta AI Marketing Capabilities to Other Forms of Media by Jack Neff

Two of the bigger audio measurement players are now one, as ArtsAI has been acquired by Claritas. The acquisition will allow the two companies to combine their tech and work to democratize the advertising business via advanced data and AI-powered personalization. A theoretical example given was using ArtsAI’s tech to identify a demographic of soccer moms who like to travel and then serve them a Peloton exercise bike ad featuring European scenery around the instructor on the bike’s screen. [Source]

NPR adjusts to revenue realities with flat budget projections for -23/24 by Brad Hill

With the fiscal year for 2023 ending this month, NPR has projected a total revenue drop of 2.4%, and their 2024 projections expect around the same gross income. CFO Daphne Kwon said the network’s strategy is to budget conservatively through the economic uncertainty of this year. Despite restructuring, layoffs, and show cancellations, NPR remains the third top podcast network by audience and downloads and 4th place on the same charts for Triton Digital’s tracker. [Source]

Marketers focus on search, discoverability as social media use evolves by Kristina Monllos

Social search is becoming a hot topic as younger generations use social platforms for more than scrolling. According to Google data from last summer, 40% of Gen Z accounts in the data pool used TikTok and Instagram to search for lunch recommendations. Deloitte Digital’s Kenny Gold tells Digiday he anticipates that if the current social media advertising landscape is about driving engagement and safe community growth, the next step will be engagement and discoverability through avenues like social search. If anyone asks “why video” for podcasting, here’s yet another reason: enabling discoverability and accessibility to audiences using social media platforms as search engines. [Source]

Creators function like standalone media channels by Jasmine Enberg

eMarketer data predicts spend on sponsored content will grow 3.5 times faster than social ad spending in 2023. The biggest growth is projected for TikTok, with influencer marketer spending growth rising 27.8% while standard ad revenue growth increases 23.1%. That said, no one platform has a monopoly on influencer marketing, creators, or their audiences. According to November 2022 data from influencer marketing platform Collabstr, creators make money from two different social platforms, on average. Platform diversity not only pays off, it’s the standard. [Source]

Here’s What Buyers Really Thought About the 2023 Upfront by Bill Bradley

Buyers tell AdWeek prices were down roughly 5% overall from last year. Some streaming services dropped prices even more, compared to the CPMs they were charging when they first launched. Longtime readers of The Download will remember Netflix was aiming for CPMs reportedly in the $60 to $70 range in the weeks leading up to the launch of Basic with Ads. Part of this year’s upfronts dragging on as long as they did is attributed to programmers, fighting for smaller budgets from money-conscious advertisers, giving advertisers more time to finalize commitments than usual. All of which adds to the ongoing question: are upfronts a necessary practice with modern adtech? [Source]

…as for the rest of the news: BBC Sounds head of metadata and publishing management Emma Conneely shared tips and pitfalls to avoid when promoting a new podcast, studios are turning to influencers to promote content while struck celebrities can’t, and MarketingBrew explains what the Delete Act could mean for data brokers in California.