Sounds Profitable

Today on The Download: is the IAB on borrowed time?, podcast ads see big gains again, Google makes misinformation less profitable, podcasts grow globally, SXM enters the identity game, and Spotify stands behind Rogan even as earnings fall. Let's get started. Neilsen spells doom for IAB In the world of TV, Nielsen measurement has been the defacto solution that deals are guaranteed against for decades. But now, according to https://digiday.com/future-of-tv/advertisers-tv-networks-plan-to-set-nielsen-alternatives-as-shadow-currencies-in-this-years-upfront-negotiations/ and for some publishers and campaigns, replacing them completely. Nielsen took its fair share of lumps last year, with the https://www.adexchanger.com/tv-2/an-update-on-nielsens-re-accreditation-journey-and-whats-next-for-the-mrc/#:~:text=In%20late%20August%2C%20the%20MRC%27s,media%20companies%20finally%20boiled%20over.&text=The%20MRC%20released%20its%20final,measurement%20standards%20in%20September%202019.. And with their newly announced plans for Nielson One, a cross-measurement product, there is a lot of comfort in using new measurement partners in parallel to compare to current Nielsen reporting, while publishers determine their path forward. Incumbent measurement solutions are incredibly hard to shake, and this change in the TV landscape doesn’t mean that overnight, Nielsen won’t be the primary solution or that they’ll ever necessarily lose that top spot. But it does mean that any measurement solution that represents an industry can and should be challenged, to better represent the industry and all those participating in it. IAB measurement of podcasting may be the default today, but we should always keep an open mind to better opportunities. Podcast Ads See Big Gains—Again! Good news for the podcast advertising industry! https://www.advertisecast.com/podcast-advertising-rates Their most recent study of the 2,515 podcasts tracked shows that aggregate or the average CPM is now $25.37, which is up from $22.50 this time last year. Doing the quick math shows that’s an increase of 12.7%. Nice And the news is even better for shows with the largest audiences. According to AdvertiseCast’s data, shows that see over 100K downloads are getting an average of $23.08, up from $20.09 a year ago. That’s a 14.6% increase year over year, and great news for the growing value of podcast advertising. CheckMyAds Makes Misinformation Less Profitable The nonprofit adtech industry watchdog CheckMyAds continues to gain traction on holding platforms accountable for monetizing disinformation content. https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/370781/google-stops-serving-ads-to-website-of-fox-news-ho.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=125147&hashid=u70GlKs7RsqyAMPsHBEpeg. This comes just a week after YouTube permanently banned Bongino from the platform for, you guessed it, repeated violations of YouTube’s COVID misinformation policy. Quoting from the piece: It is not clear how much revenue Bongino will lose as a result of the Google Ads and YouTube bans. However, as Engadget noted, https://twitter.com/catthekin/status/1487108665513439240?s=20&t=P7thsM49qVb6LebdNzOD1Q, co-founder of the digital disinformation-fighting nonprofit https://checkmyads.org/, tweeted that Gateway Pundit lost $1.1 million in annual revenue after its Google AdSense account was revoked for spreading COVID and election misinformation. Quick side note: Clair Atkin is my guest on the next episode Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied, if you are not already subscribed. What’s most interesting is Google, at least with their ad platform, doesn't have to make a decision on whether to censor content or not. Instead, they make the decision whether or not to fund it through their ad solutions. So sure, you can say anything you want on your own platform. But with this move, Google is saying pick someone else to make it profitable, a trend we hope to see echoed through all of media. Growing Podcasts Globally Every indicator shows podcasting has had a heck of a growth trajectory over the last few years. But even though we count our numbers now in the millions, it’s still dominated by English-speaking podcasts. But that may be changing. In https://digiday.com/media/how-podcast-publishers-and-platforms-are-working-to-grow-non-english-language-audiences/. Quoting from the piece: Of the 600,000-plus podcasts that launched in 2021 [that had declared] a language [in the RSS feed], a majority – 53% – tagged a non-English language, according to [Dave] Zohrob [of Chartable]. By contrast, in 2020 less than half of the 900,000 new podcasts debuted in 2020 were in non-English languages. Knowing that the majority of new podcasts launched last year are presenting information in a language other than English is a huge turning point for the global-ness of podcasting, which should be welcome news for any podcasting business looking to expand their global footprint. SMX’s AudioID The impending death of the third-party cookie and the degradation of mobile device IDs has been the backbeat of the advertising industry for the past two years. But until this week, with Facebook shares dropping over 20%, the impacts have been far more fearmongering than fact. Technology’s focus on privacy means a more transparent world, and at the forefront of data collection for advertising is the concept of unified ID’s, which relies heavily on consensually provided data from signed-in users, something we tend to assume doesn’t apply to the greater podcasting space, as Apple, Google, Spotify, and Amazon aren’t keen on sharing that data. https://podnews.net/press-release/audioid-siriusxm “We are entering a new era of identity – both in culture and in technology – that defines us not by who we are on paper or the cookies we leave behind, but by our interests and passions. AudioID is a consumer-first, privacy-conscious infrastructure that will deliver our audiences the best experiences and give marketers access to data-driven capabilities like never before,” said Chris Record, Senior Vice President and Head of Ad Product, Technology & Operations at SXM Media & AdsWizz. While the reach has yet to be determined, and public access to the framework has not yet been made available, this is incredibly encouraging growth in an area of podcasting we’ve previously considered stagnant. Spotify Stands Behind Rogan Even As Earnings Fall And finally, yes… some news on Spotify’s Joe Rogan “problem”. We know you’ve heard all about it, but we were waiting for Wednesday’s scheduled earnings call to bring it up. And we’re glad we did. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/spotify-stock-plunges-as-forecast-for-streaming-subscribers-comes-in-low-amid-controversy-11643836893?rss=1&siteid=rss: “Spotify Technology SA executives said Wednesday they expect fewer subscriber additions in the first quarter than Wall Street expected, sending shares spiraling lower, but they contended the forecast miss was not because of recent controversy. Spotify guided for 1 million fewer net subscriber additions in the first quarter of 2022 than analysts expected, and did not provide an annual forecast as they have in the past. Shares dove more than 18% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the report Wednesday, though they rebounded to a loss of less than 10% after Spotify’s chief financial officer gave a bit of color on expectations for the year in a conference call.” But the big question we have in podcasting is how much, if any, of the miss in projections can be attributed to protestors who take exception to Rogan’s comments? When Spotify founder Daniel Ek was asked specifically is these misses were impacted by recent customer cancellations related to the Rogan controversy, Ek said “Um, no.” and that “the easy answer is we don’t reflect any churn from the recent Joe Rogan thing in general. What I would say is it’s too early to know what the impact may be. And usually when we’ve had controversies in the past, those are measured in months and not days.” But Owens goes on to note: “Spotify stock has suffered during the controversy, falling 18% so far this year, but that continued a previous downward trajectory. Shares have declined 44.4% in the past 12 months, as the S&P 500 index gained 18.8%” Watch this space as this continues to unfold. The Download is a production of

Neilsen spells doom for IAB

In the world of TV, Nielsen measurement has been the defacto solution that deals are guaranteed against for decades. But now, according to Tim Peterson of Digiday, alternative measurement solutions are gaining traction in tandem with Nielsen metrics and for some publishers and campaigns, replacing them completely.

Nielsen took its fair share of lumps last year, with the [Media Ratings Council board voting to strip them of their accreditation for local and national TV viewership due to undercounting audiences during the pandemic.](https://www.adexchanger.com/tv-2/an-update-on-nielsens-re-accreditation-journey-and-whats-next-for-the-mrc/#:~:text=In late August%2C the MRC's,media companies finally boiled over.&text=The MRC released its final,measurement standards in September 2019.) And with their newly announced plans for Nielson One, a cross-measurement product, there is a lot of comfort in using new measurement partners in parallel to compare to current Nielsen reporting, while publishers determine their path forward.

Incumbent measurement solutions are incredibly hard to shake, and this change in the TV landscape doesn't mean that overnight, Nielsen won't be the primary solution or that they'll ever necessarily lose that top spot. But it does mean that any measurement solution that represents an industry can and should be challenged, to better represent the industry and all those participating in it. IAB measurement of podcasting may be the default today, but we should always keep an open mind to better opportunities.

Podcast Ads See Big Gains-Again!

Good news for the podcast advertising industry! According to AvertiseCast, the effective rates brands are paying for podcast ads have increased once again, and for shows of all sizes.

Their most recent study of the 2,515 podcasts tracked shows that aggregate or the average CPM is now $25.37, which is up from $22.50 this time last year. Doing the quick math shows that's an increase of 12.7%. Nice

And the news is even better for shows with the largest audiences. According to AdvertiseCast's data, shows that see over 100K downloads are getting an average of $23.08, up from $20.09 a year ago. That's a 14.6% increase year over year, and great news for the growing value of podcast advertising.

CheckMyAds Makes Misinformation Less Profitable

The nonprofit adtech industry watchdog CheckMyAds continues to gain traction on holding platforms accountable for monetizing disinformation content. Writing in MediaPost, Karlene Lucovitz reports that Google has decided to stop serving Google Ads on Fox News' host and Cumulus Media radio and podcast host Dan Bongino's own website. This comes just a week after YouTube permanently banned Bongino from the platform for, you guessed it, repeated violations of YouTube's COVID misinformation policy.

Quoting from the piece:

It is not clear how much revenue Bongino will lose as a result of the Google Ads and YouTube bans.

However, as Engadget noted,

Register for the Super Listeners webinar (free presentation on Feb 16)We WANT TO BE FREE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsHly9UuQ-ASupport the show at Buy Me A Coffee!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Download: is the IAB on borrowed time?, podcast ads see big gains again, Google makes misinformation less profitable, podcasts grow globally, SXM enters the identity game, and Spotify stands behind Rogan even as earnings fall. HBO Max is Hiring For Their Podcast Marketing Team Subscription streaming video service HBO Max continues to prove its serious about podcasting. Their first venture into the space dropped last summer with Batman: The Audio Adventures, an exclusive podcast that could only be listened to in HBO Max app itself.
While HBO maintains podcast channels on Spotify and Apple for related content, just like their peers at Netflix, this is the first podcast to be exclusively hosted in a subscription video streaming app.
Now, they're looking to hire a new role, specifically for podcasting under the HBO Max brand. The role is for a Sr. Analyst, Direct-to-Consumer, Podcasting Strategy & Operations, and will “provide strategic and analytic support on various projects covering direct-to-consumer and HBO Max Podcasting initiatives.
  Interactive Voices Lack Diversity If you missed CES 2022 because... well, reasons; you probably saw a plenty of breathless reporting of new prototypes and maybe-coming-in-the-future tech. Steve Keller, Sonic Strategy Director for Studio Resonate, SXM’s audio-first creative consultancy has an in-depth piece on things he noticed at the event of interest to audio people like us. Like a lot of tech around the explosion of interactive voice systems. But he also noticed something else: Quoting from the piece: But something was missing. Innovation aside, the lack of sonic diversity in the voice sector was disturbing. [P]ractically all the AI voices we heard at CES 2022 were female—and white. In fact, the only voice assistant of color heard was during a series of sessions focused on voice technology, curated and moderated by attn.live CEO, Ian Utile. Multiple panelists affirmed that there’s an underlying problem with the overwhelmingly white, male demographics of the AI world who are unconsciously programming biases, sonic color lines, and digital discrimination into voice systems. As a result, the default voice of automotive assistants, connected homes, and a plethora of other devices is white. The issue is compounded by the fact that these assistants, designed to serve us, are also predominantly female. It’s a systemic problem, and developers and brands need to work harder to sonically diversify their voice systems, as well as the designers, engineers, and developers who create them. With DEI so high on the priority list for most companies, it’s surprising this problem exists. No, wait. It’s not surprising at all, is it?   Google’s Federated Learning of Cohorts Replaced by Topics While third-party cookies aren’t part of the information we receive from listeners in podcasting, they are a big part of the device graphs we use to augment what we do receive and improve how we run attribution. So while Safari and Firefox kicked them completely to the curb in 2020, Google has pushed out their deadline for when they’re twilight third-party cookies until 2023. And their original pitch, Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLoC for short, has now been scrapped for what they’re calling Topics. FLoC grouped audiences based on their browsing activity at a very granular level, where Topics focuses on applying a list of topics, starting at around 300 but expected to be in the thousands, directly to the individual. Only the top three most prevalent Topics will be available for targeting and identification, but what’s really interesting is that they expire every three weeks, keeping them increasingly fresh and relevant. Topics fit in nicely with the contextual offerings that podcasting is primed to offer advertisers if we continue to prioritize transcription and contextual targeting.
  Podcasting Only Looks Hit-Resistant If you somehow avoided the kerfuffle over the Bloomberg Article where Lucas Shaw reported on podcasting’s inability to generate a current hit... well, I’m not sure how you did. There have been a lot of hot takes on the article, but one worthy of your attention was penned by Tom Webster in his weekly newsletter, I Hear Things.It’s a fascinating read, with Tom pointing out that other mediums, like movies, television programs, and music all have the same “problem”. They just present differently. Examining the top movies from last year, Tom notes: Even if you go further down the list from the top 10, it's sequels, movies based on existing properties, and remakes. Is it fair to say that the movie industry hasn't produced a new hit in years? No--all the above movies are new movies, but they are familiar at the same time. He goes on to make a similar case for popular television programs - The Bachelor season 26, anyone? - and even music, going so far as to craft metaphors around melody and harmony to predict a hit. Working that back to podcasting, Tom says:
Podcasting is, by its very definition, a medium that largely lacks harmony. When you can listen to a podcast anytime, there is little compunction to listen to them at any given time. They are always there--convenient, but rarely urgent. In other words, asynchronous. And they also currently (though not by definition) lack melody. The whole medium is new to so many people, and even for veteran listeners, there isn't exactly the equivalent of NCIS: New Orleans or Thursday Night Football or The Traveling Wilburys--that thread of familiarity that telegraphs immediately: if you like this, you will like that. Even some of the biggest hits of podcasting aren't easily explainable to a friend. That's part of why there is such a spate of celebrity podcasts right now. What is easier to describe to people: It's the Michele Obama podcast, or "it's the podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. Check out the entire post for insights on why Tom thinks the article that made such waves was a little unfair little wrong, but ultimately right-ish. Links in the episode details, as always.
  Amazon Expands Ad Sales Efforts Amazon Advertising was responsible for generating $23bn in revenue for the first three quarters of 2021, nearly double the $13.5bn generated in that same period for 2020. How’d they do it? By shifting their focus to pursuing major brands, agencies, and holding companies looking to focus on awareness with their large customer sales team.
Joshua Kreitzer, founder and CEO of Channel Bakers, an Amazon-focused ad agency tells Digiday
With this change, the Amazon large customer sales team is no longer focused on shopper marketing dollars — they're now responsible for breaking through to the $70 billion TV market. While selling advertising to Amazon’s clients actively selling products on Amazon.com is still part of their focus, they’re now providing a bigger brand play by being able to offer inventory across Twitch, Fire TV, IMDb TV, and their podcast companies Art 19 and Wondery. Amazon has an immense amount of first-party data, from all their apps and services that require a login, so coupled with the technology they integrated from acquiring attribution company Sizmek and their AWS infrastructure, they have the potential to provide insights competitive to Google and Meta. The Download is presented by Sounds Profitable and is hosted by Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra. Audio editing by Ian Powell. SA81NiPbZ3KByWl3qVE3See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I'm Bryan Barletta.

And I'm Evo Terra. Today; HBO gets serious about podcasting, voice assistants lack diversity, Google kills FLOC, a different perspective on podcasting's hit problem, and why Amazon may be the next marketing channel for podcasters. Let's get started.

HBO Max is Hiring For Their Podcast Marketing Team

Subscription streaming video service HBO Max continues to prove its serious about podcasting. Their first venture into the space dropped last summer with Batman: The Audio Adventures, an exclusive podcast that could only be listened to in HBO Max app itself.

While HBO maintains podcast channels on Spotify and Apple for related content, just like their peers at Netflix, this is the first podcast to be exclusively hosted in a subscription video streaming app.

Now, they're looking to hire a new role, specifically for podcasting under the HBO Max brand. The role is for a Sr. Analyst, Direct-to-Consumer, Podcasting Strategy & Operations, and will "provide strategic and analytic support on various projects covering direct-to-consumer and HBO Max Podcasting initiatives.

Interactive Voices Lack Diversity

If you missed CES 2022 because... well, reasons; you probably saw a plenty of breathless reporting of new prototypes and maybe-coming-in-the-future tech. Steve Keller, Sonic Strategy Director for Studio Resonate, SXM's audio-first creative consultancy has an in-depth piece on things he noticed at the event of interest to audio people like us. Like a lot of tech around the explosion of interactive voice systems. But he also noticed something else:

Quoting from the piece:

But something was missing. Innovation aside, the lack of sonic diversity in the voice sector was disturbing. [P]ractically all the AI voices we heard at CES 2022 were female-and white. In fact, the only voice assistant of color heard was during a series of sessions focused on voice technology, curated and moderated by attn.live CEO, Ian Utile. Multiple panelists affirmed that there's an underlying problem with the overwhelmingly white, male demographics of the AI world who are unconsciously programming biases, sonic color lines, and digital discrimination into voice systems. As a result, the default voice of automotive assistants, connected homes, and a plethora of other devices is white. The issue is compounded by the fact that these assistants, designed to serve us, are also predominantly female. It's a systemic problem, and developers and brands need to work harder to sonically diversify their voice systems, as well as the designers, engineers, and developers who create them.

With DEI so high on the priority list for most companies, it's surprising this problem exists. No, wait. It's not surprising at all, is it?

Google's Federated Learning of Cohorts Replaced by Topics

While third-party cookies aren't part of the information we receive from listeners in podcasting, they are a big part of the device graphs we use to augment what we do receive and improve how we run attribution. So while Safari and Firefox kicked them completely to the curb in 2020, Google has pushed out their deadline for when they're twilight third-party cookies until 2023. And their original pitch,

Chase Miller, EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at Claritas, joins us for our latest product deepdive. We talk about device graphs, legacy, "The Barletta Household", and why having good data is so incredibly important.
Think of the product deepdives like the final meeting your company would have with an adtech vendor, fully running through what the product actually is and how it’s used. No power points, press releases, or marketing presentations here. It’s time for some detailed product reviews.
This event is free to attend and will be made available on demand. We respect your time, and planning your day around a webinar isn't fun for anyoneSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The "podcasting isn't creating new hits" article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-09/podcasting-hasn-t-produced-a-new-hit-in-years2021 Top Movies: https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/box-office/highest-grossing-movies-of-2021/#2-shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings2020-21 Top TV Shows: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/most-popular-tv-shows-highest-rated-2020-2021-season-1234980743/Larry Rosin's article: https://radioink.com/2022/01/11/music-radio-a-kingdom-of-gold/?vgo_ee=6dAkE8pCl7%2FUnVnkEHwyU9dBEzid0g%2F0Hme0NU6Dyjw%3D&fbclid=IwAR27qCcEzU0V8BrM6HwYtsKQ0zVAhsmO06EPe_nbSK6HI-52CPjLYXUMjS0"Killing New Music" from Ted Gioia: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/is-old-music-killing-new-musicSupport the show at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TomwebsterThanks for listening!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Tom has an EPIC look at the "podcasting isn't producing any new hits" article: what's right, what's wrong, and what the *real* problem is. PLUS: The OSHIT theory, and too many Big Night references.

This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I'm Bryan Barletta.

And I'm Evo Terra. Today; a creative way to reward podcasters and get press, a look at good news and good data for 2022, how full-funnel marketing helps podcast, and two more stories you don't want to miss. Let's get started.

Audio and Ad Tech were hot industries in 2021, according to the highly respected adtech investment group Luma Partners annual report. The report highlights an incredibly active year, with 18 companies going public and an increase of 82% in the number of mergers and acquisitions when compared to 2020. Digital Audio and Podcasting received significant attention in the report, with iHeart, Spotify, SiriusXM, Amazon, Global, and Audacy all highlighted for their prominent purchases. In a year where concerns were high around data and privacy, amid a pandemic, a report like this showing record breaking growth is encouraging for podcasting.

Social audio service Racket and creator financial studio Stir have teamed up to launch Podca$h, a program that awards sponsorships to small, independent podcasters and people who have a cool podcast idea they want to bring to life.

Quoting from the podcash.com website:

We love audio. We want to support small, independent podcasts. And, we want to support people with cool podcast ideas.

So we're awarding between $250 and $5000 in sponsorship to hundreds of podcasters and podcasters-to-be.

Y'all deserve more love, and we're here to give it to you. All you need is an interesting idea.

The idea of business providing seed money to podcasters to help grow the space is an interesting one. And, clearly, a great way to generate press and goodwill for your own business.

Leah Nylen of Politico reports that "Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai personally approved a secret deal that gave the social network a leg up in the search giant's online advertising auctions, attorneys for Texas and other states alleged in newly unsealed court filings."

In a Twitter thread, Leah simplifies Google's Project Bernanke, which charged advertisers for a second price auciton and paid publishers as a third price auction. What that means is, if three bids came in for an impression at $19, $18, and $9, the $19 would win all three, but depending on the auction type they'd paid different amounts. First-price would be at $19, second price would be at $18, and third price would be at $9. In this scenario, Google charged the advertiser $18, paid the publisher $9, and used the rest to "secretly raise bids by advertisers using its tools to ensure they would always win out over advertisers using non-Google tools."

As podcast advertising continues to explore programmatic opportunities, it's important we demand full transparency from all parties involved. We're dipping our toes into a space that is being rightfully scrutinized. Podcasting wins by doing it right from the start.

In what may seem like self-serving news, Caila Litman has made her debut as a writer for Sounds Profitable with a rundown of 2022's most important "Good Data" points of interest to those in the business of podcasting. Every month, Caila will give a breakdown of a report or study...

This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important business news from the world of podcasting, I'm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today; Audible moves away from daily news digests, Audioboom's profit soars, how podcast advertising needs to write its own future, and two more pieces you don't want to miss. Let's get started.
In GeekWire, Todd Bishop reports that Audible will stop making and distributing their audio digest versions of The New York Times, a service they had been providing since 1999. Additionally, Audible's audio digest versions of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal will also be halted.Quoting from the piece:"The audio programs, which were available as a perk for Audible members, had been around for more than two decades in some cases. The decision to discontinue the digests reflects the growing number of daily news podcasts, and the rise of other services offering human-narrated audio of newspaper and magazine stories. Responding to GeekWire’s inquiry about the move, an Audible spokesperson provided copies of emails alerting listeners to the change. The messages directed listeners to the lineup of podcasts on Audible, and specifically recommended NPR’s Up First as “another way to get your news fix.”Audible and Amazon Music added podcasts in 2020. The New York Times is testing a new audio product of its own. The Times acquired Audm, which offers human-narrated stories from a variety of publications, in 2020."More proof-positive that podcasting is not just a disruptive force in journalism, but a valuable type of media in its own right. One that subscribers are eager to add to their media consumption diet.On Saturday, January 9th 2022, four mobile sports betting apps, including FanDuel and DraftKings, went live in New York state, with five more on the way, according to Neal Freyman of Morning Brew. In the four years since the Supreme Court ruled on legal sports betting, half the states in the US now allow sports betting, and twenty states support mobile sports betting specifically.Industries like sports betting and cannabis benefit from geotargeting to states where they’re legally approved and aligning with contextually relevant content; two things that podcasting does exceptionally well. As podcasting continues to grow its programmatic advertising opportunities, expect to see these categories leading the charts.Brad Hill from RainNews has a breakdown of Audioboom's financial report for 2021. A report that showed increased revenues of over 125% for the company that produces, monetizes, and distributes podcasts. That's a big increase that looks all the more impressive when you learn that Audioboom's growth more than doubled the IAB's tracking of the overall industry growth.Audioboom's growth seemed to hit on all cylinders, with increases in total impressions, advertisers serviced, and even a big jump in effective CPM.CEO Stuart Last reports that his company already havs $45 million on the books for this year, with a “strong set” of new shows is in development as they try to ride that train through 2022 and beyond.Tom Webster of Edison Research penned a great article where he looks at the massive shift in spoken-word audio consumption since 2014 to podcasting and from where? You guessed it: radio.As with every issue Tom writes in his newsletter, I Hear Things, this one is as entertaining to read as it is educational, and I highly encourage you to give it a read.Quoting near the end of the issue:"My point here is not to "celebrate" the growth of podcasting in spoken word. It's to take notice of just how much ground commercial radio has to podcasters who have done nothing more than add back in all the colors spoken word audio can paint with. Podcasting's surge isn't only about being an on-demand medium. It's about innovation. It's about taking risks. It's about closing the pool for renovations when it's easier to stick with the swimmers you have.cededAgain, this one is really worth your time to read, and for remembering that the way to succeed with spoken word content is to not only appeal to your audience, but those who might become your audience.And finally, It's not every day that an ad agency writes an opinion piece, but Dan Granger from Oxford Road has done so. And wow, is it an opinion that will probably ring in your ears for some time.In the piece, Dan presents seven key initiatives that would, in his opinion, demonstrably expand and optimize the podcast industry in 2022. You should read the article—we've linked to it in the episode details—to get his full take on each, but here's a quick rundown:A joint effort among the top podcast networks to create standard disclosures for adsMaking category exclusivity a standard for host-read adsNetworks to stop forcing "combo" buys that contain unwanted inventoryLocal media publishers joining forces to create their own regional podcast networksFacebook leveraging its advertising toolset to benefit podcasters on the social networkAirchecks and transcripts become standardAnd the podcast Industry finally getting serious about brand safetyDan goes into detail on each one of these needed initiatives, painting a picture of a future in which podcast advertising finally becomes a multi-billion dollar industry.


And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned, right in your podcast listening app. And thanks for sticking with us on this grand experiment to give you the best stories you might have missed from this week. I'm Bryan Barletta.I'm Evo Terra. Thanks for joining us. Robot?
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