More podcast ads are dynamically inserted than ever before, but so-called “baked-in” ads that are recorded as part of an episode are still used by many brands. The Interactive Advertising Bureau says 16% of ads were baked-in during 2021. Advertisers will now have an easier way to measure how well those messages are working. Veritonic has released a new tool that allows brands to use pixels to track the brand lift by listeners exposed to the ad. Veritonic says its brand lift solution does not rely on forced exposure approaches for the measurement of embedded ads, which it thinks will give marketers more transparent insights into the true impact of baked-in ads.
“As the audio and podcast advertising landscape continues to evolve, it’s critical that advertisers have the measurement data they need to support the ongoing evolution of their audio strategies,” CEO Scott Simonelli said. “We strive to provide our clients with full-funnel, apples-to-apples measurement for all of their audio endeavors, and the measurement of baked-in audio ads on actual exposure is a critical component of that commitment,” he said in a statement.
Veritonic says its measurement solution allows advertisers to leverage a single pixel to gauge full-funnel performance, including reach and impressions as they look to understand the brand lift and attribution of podcast ads. The new measurement of baked-in ads on a podcast is also seen as a way to put the ad unit on even footing with over-the-air radio ads and low-impression campaigns. The company also sees it as a way to help make advertisers more comfortable with their audio advertising.
“Veritonic’s brand lift study helped us confirm our performance campaign was also helping to improve our brand metrics,” said Thad Smith, Global Lead, Employer Brand at Indeed. “The Veritonic team’s collaboration on methodology with our Brand Science and Growth team helped give us confidence in the results and enabled us to move forward quickly with additional planning for audio channels.”
Indeed was the ninth-largest podcast advertiser during August, spending just under $2 million across 303 different shows, according to Magellan AI estimates. It was the most the brand spent on podcast ads since April, when Indeed spent an estimated $2.2 million.