Global’s DAX enters voice-activated ad deal with Instreamatic.ai

DAX, the digital ad exchange of radio company Global, has entered a partnership with Instreamatic.ai, a specialist in voice-activated ads, centered on interactive audio spots. The arrangement will let DAX advertisers place ads with verbal prompts in the mobile apps for streaming audio services such as TuneIn and AccuRadio. These ads are available in the United States, although they cannot be purchased programmatically at this time.

“The reason that we’re launching this partnership now is we are very focused on getting engagement and attribution right in the digital audio space,” said Matt Cutair, CEO of DAX’s U.S. branch. “This allows us to provide [brands] with better campaign metrics and reporting as to what happens when they ran an ad.”

“We see from the numbers that people still prefer to talk if they can, and that was really interesting—when we first saw it we were a little bit shocked and surprised,” Instreamatic CEO and Co-Founder Stas Tushinskiy said of user behaviors the company has observed. “Voice is the easiest way to input information into a device and that explains why even if you can tap and swipe, you still prefer to talk because it’s easier.”