Spotify Is Testing a One-Tap Ad-Skipping Feature for Premium Users
Podnews editor James Cridland has broken news that Spotify is testing “Skip Ahead,” a feature that lets Premium subscribers skip an entire podcast ad break, sponsorship message, or intro segment with a single tap. The feature has yet to be formally announced. The tool reduces skipping a break from nine taps to one. While there are similarities to YouTube’s Jump Ahead feature, the way IAB ad delivery is counted, embedded or dynamically inserted, Spotify is not providing hosting platforms with the additional data needed to report attention to advertisers. This appears to include their own platform, as Spotify shows are seemingly not excluded from Skip Ahead. That said, Premium users never received streaming-served ads to begin with. Ashley Carman reporting on Spotify’s Q3 earnings call notes the company is experimenting with motivating more free users to upgrade to Premium. Co-CEO Alex Norström noted one of those experiments will involve “increasing the number of ads they hear.” As things currently stand, the feature can be used to leverage over-delivering ads as a tool to pester audiences into paying for an ad-free experience, hurting advertisers caught in the middle. A move by Spotify to openly adopt HLS likely could solve major advertiser concerns with this rollout, as well as become a large revenue stream for the company.
Every Streamer Built the Same Product. Here’s the Number Behind It. by Steve Raizes
Eight major streaming platforms (HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi, and ESPN) have launched vertical clip feeds within a 20-month window. Raizes ties the convergence to a growth problem: premium streaming grew just 7% in 2025, its first single-digit year, pushing platforms to re-engage existing subscribers rather than chase new ones. The feeds mark a move away from content acquisition toward repurposing catalog assets already on hand. Something the video podcasting scene has deft experience with, as vertical clips are a major part of the video discovery engine.
IAB’s New Advice on How to Measure AI Search Visibility
The IAB has released guidelines for measuring visibility in AI search results, aimed at helping brands and publishers track how they surface in AI-generated answers. The framework centers on web search analytics rather than podcast-specific measurement. It arrives as the industry works toward consistent standards for counting attention across formats, a question increasingly relevant to audio and video publishers.
Radio, Podcasts Reach Voters Focused on Cost of Living
A new Audacy/YouGov survey finds economic anxiety shaping the 2026 midterm landscape, with commuters reporting the greatest financial squeeze. The research positions radio and podcasts as channels that reach voters during daily drives, when attention centers on inflation and rising living costs. For political advertisers, the data makes the case for audio placements against an engaged, issue-focused audience heading into the midterms.
Agencies Want More Control Over the Pipes of Programmatic Advertising
Digiday reports that agencies are pushing for greater control over programmatic ad-buying infrastructure, with Stagwell’s Curate platform cited as the latest example. The move reflects a broader effort by agencies to own more of the supply chain between buyers and inventory. The trend carries implications for how audio and podcast inventory is transacted programmatically as agencies build out their own “pipes.”
…as for the rest of the news:
-
amplifi media founder Steven Goldstein asks whether podcasting is ready for vertical video in an interview with Hernan Lopez.
-
Stony Brook University’s Podcast Incubator has open enrollment for Pivot into Podcasting, a dual-semester academic workshop aimed at accredtiing students in podcasting with instruction from seasoned industry professionals. The deadline for registration is August 15, 2026.
-
Podscribe’s July 2026 rankings are out: Crime Junkie leads audio reach (23.7M), Spotify tops publishers (55.6M), and Shopify leads advertiser spend ($4.6M).
-
Spotify shares fall after user and income forecasts miss estimates (Bloomberg).
-
ekoz reports U.S. podcast ad spend crossed $3 billion in 2026, with programmatic DAI at roughly 91% of placements while host-read ads still command 2x higher CPMs.
-
Triton Digital’s Sharon Taylor tells Podcast Perspectives that a video strategy is now non-negotiable for competitive podcast producers.
-
Oxford Road’s This Week’s Influencer covers the AMP Accords measurement standards officially dropping.
