Hey! Tom here, filling in for Gavin as they enjoy a well-earned break.
YouTube Shorts view count update wins over brands – but creators aren’t sold
Leading off, YouTube changed how they measure their short-from videos to remove the minimum time requirement for a “view,” which aligns with how Instagram Reels and TikTok also count views. While some influencer marketing agencies welcome the change as “bringing order to chaos,” YouTube creators are unlikely to see increased performance from their newly-increased view counts. Instead, notes Canvas Worldwide’s Raul Tafur, creators will have to pay closer attention to engagement and retention metrics to really see how they are doing.
More brands are blending deterministic and probabilistic data for hybrid targeting approaches
The more things change, the more things stay the same–at least in the evolving post-cookie world. According to Digiday’s Sam Bradley, advertisers are taking a closer look at probabilistic data (which is inferred, and not tied to personally identifiable information) and blending it with the deterministic, first-party data that they do have access to in order to craft “lookalike” segments for targeting. While hybrid approaches such as this have long been a part of the marketer’s toolkit, the deprecation of cookies has renewed interest in these approaches as brands seek to improve addressability.
Nickelodeon Partners With Starglow to Make Family-Friendly Podcasts for Children
Hey Swiper–no swiping! That’s right, Dora the Explorer will soon be coming to a headset near you, as Nickelodeon has partnered with Starglow to bring podcast versions of Nick Jr. properties such as Dora and Paw Patrol to life. Starglow will handle ad operations for the new podcasts, while Nickelodeon will produce the actual ads. The article cited research from SiriusXM showing that parents paid significantly more attention to podcast ads than radio ads. Kids and Family podcasts continue to be an enormous opportunity for brands, especially as parents continue to seek out more screen-free entertainment options for their kids.
Spotify Joins the Logged-in Internet
Marketecture’s Ari Paparo pens an op-ed about Spotify’s new ad exchange, SAX, and what the latest from the streaming giant tells us about the state of the “open web” market. Paparo notes that Spotify’s continuing transition from “Walled Garden” to “The Logged-in Internet” represents an existing time for programmatic advertisers, who can place spots in premium content with identify resolution, spot buying capability, and control over technology/transparency that are not available to pure walled garden solutions. The net result? Spotify is embracing a demand-driven strategy, not a supply-focused strategy, while still leaving open the possibility of future innovations in AI and creative services.
Sounds Profitable’s next flagship study is coming soon. Part one of The Advertising Landscape, the largest survey of podcast advertising effectiveness, will debut at 2 p.m. EST on Wednesday April 16th. The webinar, hosted by Tom Webster, will cover data regarding podcast reach.. Grab your virtual seat now to be one of the first to see the data!
As for the rest of the news…
- Why The Rise Of Video Podcasting Is Not Killing Audio. Jay Nachlis of Coleman Insights teases new data from Coleman and Amplifi Media on video podcasting, and reassures us that our ears are still relevant.
- Acast hosts Capital Markets Day 2025, featuring a presentation on the company’s financial performance, milestones, and data on the penetration and market performance of podcasting globally.
- DAX announces a partnership with Experian that promises to unlock deeper audience insights and bring Experian’s data-driven targeting capabilities to podcast campaigns.
