Podcast ads projected to grow to 4.5% of global audio ad spending by 2022

Podcast advertising spending is expected to double to $1.6 billion by 2022, according to a study by advertising research firm WARC. This figure accounts for 4.5 percent of global audio ad spending, up from 1.9 percent in 2018.

More stats. The study also found that:

• 78 percent of listeners don’t mind branded sponsorships because they understand it supports the content.
• Podcasts reach 62 million Americans (22 percent) weekly.
• 41.7 percent of podcast ads are inserted dynamically, at the point of downloaded (instead of being pre-recorded).
• 53 percent of listeners turn to YouTube to tune in.

Why we should care. Like advertising on other on-demand formats, podcasts are one way advertisers can reach a specific, engaged audience. If nearly four of five listeners don’t mind ads, this could be an even more effective way to connect with that audience.

As a podcast platform, YouTube may be overlooked: it doesn’t require users to log in or pre-download an episode and easily lends itself to subscriptions, social commenting and sharing. By providing a YouTube option for listeners, podcast producers and marketers can take advantage of these features, monetize with ads and make use of YouTube’s ad capabilities and analytics.

Despite the advantages and advancements (such as dynamic ad insertion), there are still trade-offs to consider before investing. Podcasts still lack real-time audience metrics – making it difficult to tell if ads are getting skipped over – and programmatic ad buying is almost non-existent.