AdsWizz milestone: 1M PodScribe transcripts completed for sharply targeted advertising

Just over a year since ad-tech company AdsWizz launched PodScribe, a proprietary podcast transcript feature, the company has announced that one-million episodes have been transcribed and are available for word-specific targeting by podcast advertisers. The tool illuminates contexts within podcast episodes and enables advertisers to target brand-safe positioning, and avoid brand-unsafe contexts. Continue Reading

Podcast advertising up 44% from January to June (AdsWizz, IAB Upfront)

Ad tech company AdsWizz presented a raft of data at the IAB Podcast Upfront this week. One key point which caught our attention was the growth in advertising from  January to June — up 44% in that period. Whatever disruptions Covid imposed on the industry, the overall growth trend over six months is startling.  Click through for charts. Continue Reading

NPR leverages member stations to make “Consider This” a localized news podcast

Announced at today’s IAB Podcast Upfront (Day 1), NPR is changing Consider This into a localized news podcast serving 10 regions. will hear a version of Consider This with reporting on their community from their community, alongside a national view from NPR. NPR notes that this program is unique to podcasting, and made possible by public radio’s shared journalism and digital networks. Delivering the right localized show to each listener is accomplished by AdsWizz and Nielsen. Continue Reading

Adwizz’s AudioGo launches from public beta, offers easy audio ad buying

We’ve been writing about AudioGo, the audio  advertising buying platform from AdsWizz, for over a year, as  it moved through a public beta. During this  time the service added testing partners including Entravision and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Today the company announces that the service is emerging from beta into a full-on ad-buying service available to all. The platform now has several new features designed to support smaller buyers looking to capitalize on increasing audio consumption. The cost of entry is surprisingly low. Continue Reading

Google advances its programmatic audio buying tools

Google has raised its game in programmatic audio. Google’s broad digital advertising platform, Ad Manager, is getting audio programmatic for the first time. Additionally, Google’s DV360 is enhancing its existing tools. DV360 is the abbreviated brand name of Display & Video 360, formerly called DoubleClick. The systems stumbles over RSS feeds, perhaps slowing adoption ion podcasting, though independent distribution platforms like Spotify and Pandora work fine. Continue Reading

SiriusXM: Streaming, acquisitions, and the uncertainty of podcasting

In its recent Q2 earnings call, Sirius XM discussed streaming, its multiple acquisitions, and podcasting in some detail. Remarks about podcasting are quite interesting, somewhat shading the industry as young and largely immature, while evangelizing the production and marketing power of SiriusXM. Click through for many quotes. Continue Reading

SiriusXM buys Simplecast, pairs it with AdsWizz and connects it to Pandora

SiriusXM is hitting the nets this morning with a smart acquisition. The satellite radio and digital audio holding company is buying podcast host Simplecast. That’s the short story. The bigger picture is a full-on podcast distribution and monetization system for podcast creators at all levels. Continue Reading

AdsWizz adds Dynamic Creative Optimization to its digital audio ad platforms

Tech company AdsWizz is announcing a new layer to its AudioMatic and AudioServe digital audio advertising platforms. Called Dynamic Creative Optimization, it allows advertisers to use targeting data to generate over 10-million (that’s not a typo; ten million) ad creative variations which personalize advertising to listeners. Click for details. Continue Reading

Podcast advertising reportedly takes a hit as coronavirus forces businesses to cut costs

Ad Age interviewed several executives about how podcast advertising is changing along with listening in the coronavirus pandemic. Not only are many businesses cutting the ad budget due to shut-downs and stay-at-home orders, but many of those that are still running ads don’t want to be linked with discussions of the pandemic. Continue Reading