Podcasting’s biggest advertisers pulled back on their spending in February, as the top 15 brands as measured by Magellan AI spent an estimated $44.32 million. That is down nine percent from the combined total spent by January’s top 15 advertisers. But the longer-term view shows just how much marketers are turning to podcasting. The estimated total spent by the top 15 last month is 20% more than what the top advertisers spent during the same period a year ago.
What has not changed is the brand at the top. Teledoc Health, the parent of the online mental health company BetterHelp, was once again the top advertiser on podcasting during February. Magellan AI estimates it spent $7.9 million, which was a nine percent month-to-month decline. BetterHelp ads were most common on Comedy genre podcasts as their ads were detected across 834 different shows monitored by Magellan AI.
Thanks to the Super Bowl, the sports betting company Flutter Entertainment jumped from No. 4 in January to No. 2 in February, as it spent an estimated $5.6 million. That was a 24% month-to-month increase. Flutter ads were most likely heard on Sports podcasts. Rival DraftKings spent an estimated $2.86 million, roughly a million dollars less than it spent in January, despite the Super Bowl. It remained in fifth place.
Flutter’s rise pushed Amazon back to third place, as its podcast ad spending totaled just under $5 million – or a four percent drop from a month earlier. HelloFresh slid back one spot to No. 4 as its estimated $4.4 million in podcast ad spending fell six percent compared to January.
The prize for the biggest number of shows on which its ads appeared during February went to Progressive Insurance. Its estimated $2.5 million spending was spread out across 1,024 different podcasts according to Magellan AI. The most commonly-used genre was Sports.
Across the top 15, the Sports genre was the most used by nine of the top 15 advertisers according to Magellan AI’s estimates. Four other advertisers spent most of their money in the Comedy genre.
Magellan AI’s list of movers and shakers – the brands that increased their podcast spending the most during the month – was led by a familiar name to podcast listeners as job-hunting site Indeed roared back and spent nearly $1.4 million on podcasting last month compared to an estimated $161,000 in January as signs pointed to a strengthening job market. Booking Holdings, the parent company of travel sites such as Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline, and Open Table, also turned up on the mover’s list, with an estimated $836,000 in podcast ad spending last month compared to nothing in January. Travel sector rival Expedia Group also made the mover’s list, although their $387,000 in estimated spending trailed Booking Holdings.
Several other big brands also appeared to be making shifts in their podcast spending in recent weeks. Magellan AI says Anheuser-Busch spent an estimated $691,000 last month, nearly four times what it spent in January, while T-Mobile also quadrupled its podcast ad spending to an estimated $574,000 in February.
Procter & Gamble, the consumer products giant that has made headlines for shifting ad dollars to radio, is also making podcast moves. P&G’s Clorox brand spent an estimated $145,000 on podcast ads last month, more than triple what it spent in January.
Magellan 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.
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