In late February ART19 invited podcast industry leaders to participate in a discussion about how we make money in this business. As part of On Air Fest’s Podcast Business Summit, the room was full of professionals with expertise in podcast distribution, advertising, and the shifting audio landscape. What followed was a lively discussion of the benefits, drawbacks, and pain points of programmatic advertising in podcasts – from the perspective of advertisers, networks, and creators. The session was presented by ART19, an Amazon company, and led by Andy Slater, Head of Partnerships & Strategy.

Read on below for some key takeaways.

Programmatic advertising has a real value case, but the term can be misused or carry a negative connotation. 

• Words like “programmatic” and “remnant” have become a catch-all for automated, non-direct ad sales for pre-produced ads and dynamic ad insertion (DAI). 
• Publishers can approach programmatic ads with a “barbell” strategy – balancing direct sold, high-touch host-read ads with consistent, automated revenue from programmatic ads.
• Programmatic ads can be misperceived as lower in value because they are often deployed across a show’s back catalogue or remnant inventory. But, if listeners are actively consuming content – no matter when it was published – that audience has value, especially when the ads are personalized with advanced behavioral targeting. 
• For advertisers, programmatic’s value lies in reaching intended audiences at scale with a very low barrier to entry.

Technological improvements are key to scaling programmatic advertising. 

• Networks and advertisers feel they are lacking the transparency necessary to better control when and where their ads are running. The current vetting process is often manual and time consuming, which is a barrier to entry for some.
• Consolidated reporting is a major pain point. This issue is compounded by the expansion into more video and social media content. 

International markets are becoming more viable options for monetization. 

• Programmatic ads can be a practical way to monetize international audiences before having boots on the ground in certain markets. 
• But, the maturity of international markets varies widely. English-speaking countries are cited as more accessible. 
• Targeting is key – you want to ensure the product or show you are promoting is readily available and relevant to that country’s audience. But, Europe’s privacy laws complicate this as they require probabilistic targeting. 

AI has the potential to change podcast monetization and advertising, but how exactly is still unclear.

• Advertising on AI-generated podcasts doesn’t seem to be top of mind for advertisers because of audience size and scale. For example, a network of AI-generated podcasts may have thousands of episodes, but only 50 listeners per episode.
• AI-generated ads could be a game changer for small businesses who don’t have the creative resources to create promotional spots for themselves.