IAB Tech Lab has released important guidelines on how platform privacy restrictions are impacting the podcasting sector. The comprehensive output sets out to:
- present a clear definition of the challenge
- describe how privacy mechanisms block audience metrics and their impact on podcast businesses
- identify how podcast businesses can work with other parties in the supply chain to achieve shared goals, such as improved privacy controls for users
- propose strategies for communicating the challenges and needs of podcast creators and businesses
IAB Canada has been tracking a solid growth rate for ad revenue generated from podcasting over the past two years (up 59% in 2021 from 2020) and The Canadian Podcast Listener 2021 – Calibration Study indicated a steady growth in listeners year over year.
IAB Tech Lab’s Podcast working group points out that some of that growth has been driven with the ability to place dynamically inserted (DAI) ads. This is a trend that is a bit slower in Canada, based on our Digital for Reach Barometer report from earlier this year. However, in the U.S. personalized ads served through DAI represents an increase in revenue from 48% to 67% reflecting the value of customized experiences from the podcaster’s point of view as well as the advertiser’s ability to target specific audiences on a location basis.
Understanding the listeners is key to delivering a great ad experience but, when Apple released the beta version of its Private Relay feature for iCloud+ users last year, the podcast sector took note. Given the limited access to data about downloaded content that podcasters already contend with, this move by Apple exacerbates the problem.
We have shared the output with the IAB Canada Audio Committee and look forward to delving into the contents of the report. To get involved, reach out to [email protected].