Spotify has started actively focusing on the podcast market and the company has revealed that it is working on a new way of delivery advertisements to podcast listeners. With this new way, the company promises to make ads more relevant to consumers, and therefore, more profitable for advertisers.
The company is using something what it calls Streaming Ad Insertion, and as the name itself suggests, it only comes into play when users stream podcasts in real-time, rather than downloading them and listening offline.
Currently, podcast ads work similar to what you’d find in magazines, where the ads are based on what you’re currently listening to. The ads are downloaded along with the podcast itself, so the ads are predetermined for everyone listening to the same podcast.
However, the company’s new “Streaming Ad Insertion” will make it the way that podcast ads work more like the ads we see on the internet, with Spotify using the data it has on users to deliver targeted ads in real-time. Additionally, advertisers can get a lot more insight into how their ads perform with this new advertising platform, measuring its effectiveness.
Spotify is still testing this new ad platform, and for the time being, Streaming Ad Insertion is only being used in the company’s own exclusive shows, but could seen be expanded. If you listen to your podcasts offline, you won’t be affected by this, and your ads will be delivered as they have been up until now.
