Oxford Road has published a new report looking at the impact of increasing ad load on podcasts. Historically, podcasting has gone for quality over quantity, sporting a significantly lower ad load than traditional mediums like television or radio. Oxford Road and Podscribe collaborated over H1 to observe 164 advertisers across over 1,300 shows, tracking impressions compared to percentage of ad load. The study found a 10% decline in response (plus a 12% cost-per-purchase increase) when going from podcast episodes with a 6% ad load, to a 10% load. The suggested sweet spot is two minutes of midroll ad per hour of podcast, plus sixty second pre-roll and post-roll spots (ideally endorsed or introduced by the host).
Chartable Download Analytics Dashboard Down
According to multiple sources, Chartable’s prefix download analytics have not been accessible since this Monday. Customer support has communicated that the issue will be fixed soon on a daily basis since, though the dashboard still says it is undergoing maintenance. Chartable Smart Promo and Smart Links continue to work, which both require prefix download data to work. This suggests the data is still being collected as normal, but users cannot access it. An integration between Chartable and Megaphone has been promised in the past but has yet to be implemented, and Chartable remains one of the Spotify properties that has not recertified with the IAB.
Streaming Services See YoY Growth with Music, Podcasts, and Audiobooks Driving Engagement
Kantar has released their latest Entertainment on Demand data for global music streaming. In Q2 YouTube Music was the most-adopted music streaming service. Podcasts and audiobooks are cited as significant factors driving adoption rates for music streaming services. 29% of surveyed streaming audiences consider podcasts an important part of their life (a 3% increase from Kantar’s study last year).
Interactive CTV Ads Drive Higher Engagement, But Not Purchases by Mark Stenberg
A new study from Brightline looks at interactive connected TV (CTV) ads, ranging from QR codes leading to branded games, to clickable buy links. The study finds the interactive ads outperformed standard video ads on aided recall, but 95% of respondents said they preferred to manually add items to shopping carts and 60% wished to do more research. A recurring complaint in podcast advertising is a lack of intractability to podcast ads. Studies like Brightline’s suggest the grass is not always greener, and interactive elements in ads are not a magic bullet for conversions.
A Dispatch from the White House’s First Creator Conference by Kaya Yurieff
Yesterday the Biden administration held its first Creator Economy Conference at the White House in Washington, D.C. The guest list of 1000 included talent managers, social media influencers, and SAG-AFTRA’s director of contract strategic initiatives and podcasts. Influencer marketing, including podcasting, has grown to the point it is now a legitimate part of political campaign strategy. Which benefits both podcast publishers and advertisers alike.
As for the rest of the news…
- Audacia Audio plans to partner with AI audio studio Wondercraft to expand its ad production internationally
- Libsyn and Barometer are partnering on a brand safety initiative, as Libsyn reports that host-read ads grew 24% year over year for H1
- Edison presents the top 50 podcasts in the US for Q2
- RedCircle is set to launch OpenRAP, an automated host-read ad platform
- Sinclair Broadcast Group is expanding its podcast division
- Frequent audio advertiser Ziprecruiter is set to launch its own podcast this year
