Nine In Ten Media Experts Are On Board With Digital Audio Ads.

As digital audio opportunities continue to rapidly expand across the advertising spectrum, most media experts say they are likely to include such ads in their strategies, although fraud and audibility metrics continue to be major concerns.

These are among the findings in digital ad analysis company Integral Ad Science's 2022 Amplifying Media Quality in Digital Audio Report, based on results from its survey of digital media experts – including publishers, ad buyers, and ad tech experts – in partnership with global public opinion and data company YouGov.

According to those results, nine in ten (93%) experts say they are likely to use digital audio advertising this year, with 63% agreeing that digital audio ads drive both performance and branding, contributing to overall advertising outcomes. With the shift from direct to automated transactions, nearly three-fourths of the sample (73%) are on board with programmatic ad buying, as marketers seek efficiency and scale in digital audio advertising. “Digital audio is booming, and marketers want metrics to ensure they are placing their ads in the best possible audio adjacencies,” IAS Managing Director, EMEA Csaba Szabo says.

There is concern among experts about the sufficiency of current audibility metrics. While nearly half (45%) say it is important to compare campaign performance across audio, display and video formats, a lower percentage have confidence when discussing audio metrics with clients, feeling audibility criteria are insufficient to compare to viewability.

A larger issue is that of digital ad fraud, where close to nine in ten (87%) express concern, although 31% of ad buyers and 43% of publishers say they would purchase more audio ads with support from third-party verification. Experts feel such verification preserves media quality and helps buyers harness audio ad metrics by providing insights into performance, industry education and listening to client feedback for future innovations.