FAQ Podcast Measurement

How do we measure podcast audience and advertisement? 

We measure audience and ad delivery based on the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines, a global standard for podcast measurement that specifies how technical reach, listens, and impressions should be measured. It is a global and platform-independent standard where listening and delivery are measured according to the same methodology regardless of market or platform. This ensures a credible, transparent, and consistent measurement. IAB Tech Lab in the US owns the standard, which is used by podcast providers, advertisers, and agencies globally.

Our ad delivery is reported according to the IAB standard through our ad partner AdsWizz, the global market leader in audio advertising technology. Advertisers can add their own third-party measurement, provided that the measurement supports 'server-side audio reporting' (including reading the user's IP from the XFF header). Data for ad delivery is reported in real time by AdsWizz. After a campaign concludes, a campaign report with summary data on impressions and ad reach is created.

Bauer Media and our podcast platform have a proprietary service for producing audience metrics that are compliant with IAB podcast measurement technical guidelines. It is audited by the global data and analytics company Kantar, which performs regular audits to ensure compliance with the standard.

How are listens, reach, and impressions defined?

• Listens are defined as the number of downloads and streams (progressive downloads) over 60 seconds. However, a maximum of one listen per episode, unique and calendar day is included.
• Reach - Unique Users are defined from data representing the number of single users consuming Listens. A unique identifier is used to estimate unique usage, represented by a combination of IP address and User Agent, or a User ID generated from the application (e.g. provided from the device, cookie, or user sign-in).
• Ad impression is triggered when at least 60 seconds of the episode and the ad are delivered in their entirety.

What about other metrics, such as downloads and starts?

Podcast listening is fragmented across various platforms, but IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines are the same regardless of platform, device, and consumption method. Metrics are clearly defined within the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines but appear in various forms within the industry. This applies to both audience measurement and advertising measurement. Below is a table to clarify terms often used synonymously. Additional terms might be used in local languages as well.

What is the difference between technical reach and listeners?

It is common to refer to the technical reach of our podcasts as ‘listeners’. It is accepted in the market to talk about digital audiences in this way, but it is important to understand that digital measurement is based on technical uniqueness - not people.

Technical uniqueness is based on devices, players, cookies, IP addresses, or IDs from logged-in users. It is a good and accepted estimate of listeners, with the advantage of capturing all listening, unlike measurements of people based on statistical samples.

Technical reach closely approximates actual people daily and weekly but tends to create greater disparities over longer periods. The difference in outcomes between technical reach and people can vary, with both overreporting and underreporting.

• Overreporting: You are not logged in and use multiple devices or players to listen. You are then one person listening, but your technical uniqueness is multiple.
• Underreporting: You listen in the car or at home with the family. You are then multiple people listening, but your technical uniqueness only indicates one.

What is the difference between media reach and advertising reach?

Media reach indicates the total technical reach of the podcast, while ad reach indicates the technical reach for ad delivery. These values differ because media reach captures all listening, while ad reach only captures the reach for delivered ads.

Are ads delivered on all platforms?

We use leading technology to deliver and measure audiences and ads across all devices and players (except Youtube, see below). Our ads are delivered uniquely to each listener and occasion, regardless of where the podcast is played. The technology is called Server-Side Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) and is used in partnership with AdsWizz.

YouTube is not included, as the platform does not support the technology that enables rss-pass through and Server-side dynamic ad insertion’.

What is the standard ad break structure and ad load in a podcast?

Podcasts typically have a structure of pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll advertising. Our podcasts' default value is one ad per pre- and post-roll break and two ads per mid-roll break.

The default value is, however, often adjusted, and ad-load, whether promotions, host-reads, or spot advertising, varies significantly between markets and podcasts. From ad-free episodes to episodes with 10% of the duration being ads.

Host-reads can sometimes be part of the podcast episode recording (often called a ‘baked-in-ad). However, we recommend delivering host-reads through ad insertion to deliver on all episodes and facilitate qualitative measurement and reporting.

Typically, the ad-break structure in a podcast episode might look like this.

What is the listening completion rate for a podcast episode?

The listening time for podcasts is high, averaging around 70%, but greatly varies depending on the episode's length and format. The completion rate ensures that a mid-roll ad, on average, reaches around 70–90% of the episode's total audience.

How many podcast listeners are skipping advertising?

The average for our podcasts is around 10%; however, it varies significantly between different podcasts and episodes. The behaviour of skipping ads varies with the target audience, placement, and length.

Skips are generally lower the later the ad is placed in the episode, and there is some correlation between high episode completion and a low skip rate. Depending on the episode's completion rate, a pre-roll can still reach a larger audience than a mid-roll because it is placed earlier.

The proportion of ad skips is generally constant within the same podcast if placement and length remain unchanged. The variation is greater regarding the proportion of skips of longer host reads, which range from very low to higher levels than traditional ad breaks. The length and placement of the host read are factors, but the proportion of skips is also affected by the host engagement and relevance to the rest of the podcast.

What proportion of listening is downloads versus streaming?

Approximately 70% of our listens are streamed (the technical term is progressive download), while 30% are downloaded for later listening, this number is consistent with some variations between markets and podcasts. According to the IAB standard, both distribution methods are included in the measurement of reach, listens, and impressions.

How is audibility measured in podcast advertising?

Currently, the IAB standard for podcast measurement is based on delivery; the rules under "How are listening, reach, and impressions measured?" There is no platform-independent solution for Audibility. I.e. to the extent an audio ad is heard, rather than delivered. Development in this area is ongoing but has not yet been realised in the IAB standard for podcast measurement.

Delivered means that the server has sent audio to the player. There is a certain discrepancy between what a server delivers and what the player has played, as well as between what the player has played and what has been heard by a person. The margins of error are difficult to estimate with the technology and standards used today. However, development is ongoing in this area, and we at Bauer Media are positive towards a platform-independent solution and standard for Audibility.

How do we target ads to specific audiences?

In podcast advertising, we can use several layers of audience targeting simultaneously. This ensures as accurate delivery as possible, regardless of device or player. The targeting thus applies to the entire podcast audience, regardless of where and how they listen.

• Targeting based on data from logged-in users on owned and operated platforms.
• Contextual targeting based on content and audience data.
• Probabilistic data through our ad provider AdsWizz.