Podcast Ad Spending Surges 28% In Q2 Amid Wave of New Advertisers.

The second quarter brought an acceleration in podcast ad spending as early-year doubts about tariffs and the economy faded, and consumers kept spending. The result, Magellan AI reports, is a “pop” in the second quarter as podcast ad spending climbed 28% from a year ago. That easily beat the 17% growth rate recorded during Q1. The data also shows each month proved to be stronger than the prior one during the April to June timeframe.

The shift came at an opportune time, as more dollars are typically spent during the second quarter than in the first. Magellan estimates the top 10 advertisers during the second quarter spent a combined $128 million. That’s 20% more than what the top 10 spent during Q1.

Eight of the brands that made the list are repeat performers from the prior quarter. Overall, BetterHelp remained on top, spending an estimated $16.4 million. Amazon ranked second, with $15.9 million spent on podcast ads, while Toyota ranked third, with $14.4 million, according to Magellan estimates. Unilever also made its debut on the quarterly ranker, spending $10.2 million during Q2 — good for ninth place.

Financial services is the category where the biggest share of podcast ad dollars originated during the second quarter. Magellan estimates financial firms spent a combined $104.3 million on podcast ads in Q2, which was a 56% increase from a year earlier. The second-largest ad category was business services and software, with combined spending of $77.3 million, followed by consumer services and software spending, which totaled $70.7 million, according to its estimates. Both were up double-digits year-to-year as were other top categories, including insurance (+54%), gambling (+26%), automotive (+24%) and food (+20%).

In terms of dollars spent, Magellan says produced ads saw a 76% gain year-over-year. Host-read ad spending increased 31% while programmatic and run of network spending remained flat.

Podcasting’s brand diversity continues to grow, along with the dollars. In a progress report on that effort, Magellan says it detected 1,196 new brands on podcasts during the second quarter.

The average test budget was $42,600 for brands new to podcasting, larger than what’s been seen in the past.

“Sports continued to be the most popular genre for new brands to run on in Q2. About one out of every five new brands included Sports podcasts in their media plan,” Magellan says in its quarterly benchmark report. News and Comedy shows were also popular among the newcomers. And they were also most likely to use a mid-roll ad, according to the analysis. But that’s not surprising since 56% of all podcast ads in Q2 were mid-rolls, nearly double pre-roll’s 30% share.

As business picked up during Q2, it put more pressure on publishers to place more ads. But Magellan data suggests the industry is throttling ad loads more than a year ago. While the ad loads across episodes sampled increased between Q1 and Q2 as more inventory was sold, ad load decreased 11.6% from a year earlier. In absolute terms, Magellan says that means about 39 fewer seconds of advertising in the ears of podcast listeners in 2025.

The quarterly analysis shows 8.13% of overall podcast time went to commercial messages during Q2 vs. 8% in Q1. As advertisers remained focused on the larger shows, the size of a podcast determined its ad load. During the quarter, Magellan says shows in the top 500 dedicated 9.1% of episode time to ads vs. 8.1% for shows in the 500 to 3,000 range. Podcasts beyond the top 3,000 averaged 8% of their episode time to commercials. While loads held steady in the top 500 segment during Q2, the numbers also reveal heavier spot loads for smaller shows.

The quarterly report shows variations also remain among show genres. True Crime remains the genre with the biggest ad loads, averaging 12.06% of episodes to ad time in Q2. Society & Culture (9.01%) and Education (8.48%) followed. Magellan notes two of the 13 biggest genres were outliers and increased their ad loads from a year ago. Technology shows dedicated 7.75% of their episodes to ads in Q2, up from 7.17% last year. And TV & Film podcasts expanded their small loads, increasing to 1.18% this year from 0.79% last year.

Among the other findings in Magellan’s quarterly update is the continued concentration of ad dollars. It reports that in Q2, advertisers spent an average of $318,000 per month on top 500 shows. That is up 6% from the prior quarter. That compared to $39,000 spent on podcasts ranking 501 to 3,000 — a $6,000 increase from Q1.

The report says more than a third (35%) of ads run during Q2 were 30 seconds, making that length the most popular pick among advertisers. Another 13% of ads were 15 seconds, while 16% were a minute in length.

Direct response made up 43% of overall market spending during Q2, a 10% increase from Q1, with brand awareness at 55%, and tune-in at 3%.

Download a copy of Magellan AI’s Quarterly Podcast Advertising Benchmark Report HERE.