Sounder Analysis: NPR’s News Podcasts Significantly Safer for Brands than General Population of News Podcasting
According to the new data from Sounder, 81% of NPR’s podcast news content was classified as unrelated or low-risk for sensitive topics in the GARM brand safety floor and suitability framework. In comparison, the general population averages 54%. Sounder also found that NPR tends to avoid graphic discussions, with 13% fewer instances of medium-risk sensitive topics and 2.3% of their content was categorized as graphic depictions of high-risk sensitive topics. [Source]
Content Mood Targeting
New from AdsWizz Product Updates for Publishers: publishers working with AdsWizz now have access to Content Mood Targeting, a tool that allows users to reach people listening to music associated with specific moods. AdsWizz says the tool is future-proofed contextual targeting that uses privacy-friendly contextual signals. Currently the Mood library contains over 60 million unique songs worldwide that are classified into nine different Mood segments. The current library and future additions are created by a machine learning algorithm evaluating different elements of songs and assigning it a mood, then a team of music analysts review the automated categorization to verify result and tweak as needed. [Source]
5 Strategies For Podcast Expansion In A Zero-Sum Audio World by Steven Goldstein
According to recent Edison Research data, total audio consumption in the U.S. is holding steady at around four hours per day, largely unchanged from a decade ago. Over that decade more platforms and choices for entertainment have popped up. While audio is healthy overall, the static time spent means podcasting will have to shift focus to retain existing audiences and bring new listeners into with new, unaccounted for 4 hour listening budgets. Among other strategies, Goldstein recommends embracing retention strategies to keep a loyal core audience base. [Source]
How Will Contextual Advertising Fare When The FTC Revises Its COPPA Rule?
For the first time since 2013, the FTC is working on updating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (or COPPA). This comes after an open call for feedback in 2019 that received 175,000 responses. The 2013 version of COPPA has an exemption that allows companies to collect personal information from a child without parental consent if the data is used to support the internal operations of a site or service. Now with the advanced capabilities of contextual advertising, the FTC is looking at a different advertising landscape than it was in 2013, and potential changes could eliminate that exemption in the rule. That said, even if the exemption is removed, it’s likely kids and family-oriented content will still have effective contextual targeting options to work with. [Source]
…as for the rest of the news: iHeartmedia and Magnite join forces to launch a new marketplace, AdLarge signs exclusive sales partnership with Fable & Folly, Audacy files for bankruptcy, USG Audio scales back Universal’s podcast development, and Voxalyze announces a shutdown of their services due to lack of investment.
