Podcast Ad Growth Surges In First Half, Powered By 2,200 New Brands Says Magellan.

Podcast ad spending remained in growth mode during the first half the year according to Magellan AI, which reports spending was up double-digits every month between January and June. The slowest growth came in January, with the best gains recorded in July when spending was up 34% versus a year earlier.

Focusing on the top ten spenders during the first half, Magellan reports total spending among that elite group totaled an estimated $231 million. That was up 1.9% compared to what the top ten spent during the first half of 2024.

Online mental health provider BetterHelp spent more than any other brand, putting an estimated $31.3 million into podcast ads, with Amazon ranked second with $26.8 million in first half spending. Toyota rounded out the top three, as the automaker spent $25.2 million in the medium. Magellan says eight of the top 10 were also top spenders a year ago, with the additions of LinkedIn, which spent $16.5 million in the first half, and Unilever, which spent $14.5 million, both making a move into the ranking. 

The biggest jump in spending came in the recruiting category, where spending rose 72% year-to-year—thanks in large part to LinkedIn. There were also large increases in categories like eyewear (+28%), pets (+28%), web hosting (+27%), and shoes (+27%). In terms of most dollars spent, financial services took the crown with first half spending of $195.1 million according to Magellan estimates.

The continued growth of the industry relies on new advertisers and Magellan says progress remains healthy on that front. During the first half of the year, it detected 2,227 advertisers for the first time. They spent an average of $19,185 during their first month advertising. The data shows 18% of new brands ran on one or more Sports podcasts in the first half, while 14% ran on News podcasts. And one in ten spent money on Comedy shows.

Those additions helped push the overall number of brands spending money in podcasting to 12,910 in the first half. That is the biggest number since the second half of 2023. While the biggest spent millions each month, Magellan says the average brand spent about $51,000 during the first half. That is down slightly from the end of last year, but it is up from a year earlier.

The data also points to podcast ads getting shorter. Magellan says more than one in ten ads that ran during the first half were 15 seconds long, while the number of ads that are either 60 or 30 seconds is declining. Even so, just under four in ten ads are 30 seconds, so that length remains the most popular.

Mid-roll ads also remain the most popular, followed by pre-roll. Use of post-roll ads also took a dip during the first half.

The result of shorter ads means the average ad load across episodes sampled by Magellan during the first half showed a decrease. It reports the sample average was 8.07% of the episode dedicated to ads during the first half of the year. That is down 10% from the 8.97% average recorded in the first half of 2024. Magellan calculates it means listeners typically heard 32-seconds less advertising per episode. The dip came despite a greater number of pod-on-pod promotional messages being included.

Looking ahead to the second half, Magellan data suggest ad spending remains strong. It reports it recorded a new high for podcast ad load in July, hitting 10.9% among top 500 shows.

Download Magellan AI’s 2025 Midyear Review HERE.