Magellan Says Podcast Ads Hold Strong In November As Big Brands Double Down.

Podcast advertising spending continued on its solid pace in November, with the top 15 advertisers investing a combined $61.8 million in the medium, according to Magellan AI estimates for last month. It reports BetterHelp once again led all advertisers, spending $5.9 million during the month. It was followed closely by Washable Sofas, which invested $5.8 million. T-Mobile ranked third at $5.4 million, while Toyota placed fourth with $4.6 million.

E-commerce and consumer brands filled much of the middle of the leaderboard. Quince spent $4.5 million, while Apple followed closely at $4.4 million. FanDuel ranked seventh with $4.3 million, reinforcing the continued dominance of sports betting advertisers in podcasting. Amazon placed eighth at $4.2 million.

The fourth quarter is a critical time of year for brands and that may’ve led some marketers to shift dollars to other channels. Overall, Magellan said two of three brands in its top 15 spent less on podcast ads during November vs. a month earlier.

The analysis shows that sports podcasts captured the largest share of ad spending. But Magellan’s November rankings also show that advertisers are far from monolithic in their genre strategies. Among the top 15 advertisers, sports was the primary genre for 11 brands, underscoring its role as the default destination for scale, live-read integrations, and brand-safe reach.

Podcast advertising saw a sharp influx of new and returning buyers in November, with the top 15 “movers and shakers” — Magellan AI’s monthly ranking of brands that deliver the largest increases in spending in the medium — increasing their combined spend to $11.5 million. It was driven by dramatic month-over-month jumps from brands that were either largely absent or minimally invested in the medium in October.

Aura Frames led the list, surging to $2.4 million in November spending, up more than 1,000% from the prior month, according to Magellan estimates. The Coca-Cola Company followed closely with $2 million, marking a 747% increase and signaling renewed interest from one of the world’s largest brand advertisers. TikTok ranked third, boosting its spend to $1.4 million, more than four times its October investment.

Several healthcare and benefits companies also posted the most dramatic percentage gains, including Optum and UnitedHealth Group. Elsewhere, Magellan reports that Walden University and Burlington Stores also posted eye-popping increases after negligible October spend.

Retail and consumer brands rounded out much of the list. Sleep Number increased spending to $721,600, while ThirdLove reached $159,300, both posting triple-digit percentage gains on a month-over-month basis. B2B and tech advertisers also showed momentum. Rippling increased spend to $387,000, while Microsoft, ServiceNow, and Superhuman each posted gains of more than 300%.

Taken together, November’s movers and shakers highlight podcasting’s ability to absorb rapid increases in ad spending, particularly from brands moving quickly from test budgets to meaningful scale as campaigns prove out performance and reach.

Magellan AI analyzes podcast advertising data from the top 3,000 podcasts in the U.S., as ranked by Apple Podcasts. Magellan AI’s proprietary model is used to estimate advertising spend. It includes factors such as the number of ads and variation in ad load detected for a given episode, the number of downloads for each episode, and estimated CPMs as reported in select media kits and estimated based on popularity.