Spotify expands podcast offerings with two more acquisitions

Spotify has made two more US-based acquisitions to provide more technology for publishers and advertisers to drive their businesses.

The first, Podsights, is a podcast ad measurement service using machine learning and artificial intelligence, which already works with 120 brands.

It will allow Spotify advertisers access to greater data, such as who clicked on an ad and if they made a purchase, the company said.

“As part of Spotify, Podsights will be able to utilise Spotify’s technology and intelligence to bring more accurate measurement and actionable insights to podcast advertisers around the world,” said Spotify.

It will also allow Spotify to offer better measurement data for audio ads within music, video ads and display ads.

Chartable, meanwhile, is a podcast analysis platform which provides tools for “tens of thousands of podcasters” and publishers like the Wall Street Journal and ViacomCBS to learn more about their listener base and expand their audience.

Shifts in podcast listening due to the COVID has meant publishers are desperate for keys to trends and changes.

Chartable’s data-tracking of 12,000 podcasts (US only) found downloads by listeners in the week ending September 21 were up over 150% from the first week of 2020.

Spotify podcasters now get two of Chartable’s features.

SmartPromos allow them to see which ads are resulting in the most downloads and essentially measure the success of their ad campaigns.

SmartLinks, according to Chartable, are “shareable, trackable URLs that automatically route listeners to their podcasts”.

It allows podcasters to track both clicks and downloads.

The Chartable acquisition will build on offerings by Megaphone, which Spotify bought in 2020.

With Megaphone’s technology, Spotify podcast publishers could insert their own ads “for the first time” and pick up the option of tracking and monetising their podcasts through Spotify if they didn’t have sales or sponsorship teams.

Spotify said it believes the next step to unlocking growth is demonstrating audio advertising’s impact through innovations in measurement, attribution and audience insights.

“According to eMarketer, annual US digital audio advertising revenue is poised to grow to nearly [US]$8 billion—and of that, $2.7 billion for podcast advertising alone—by 2025,” the Swedish company said when announcing the buy-outs.

It went on to say that while advertisers come to it to reach its engaged and immersed audience, an Advertiser Perceptions survey showed that measurement and attribution “remain the two biggest unsolved challenges for podcast advertisers”.

The recent acquisition of Whooshkaa and its broadcast-to-podcast technology enabled Spotify to push itself as the best place for publishers to create, monetise, and measure their podcast businesses.

In its Q3 financial postings last October, Spotify ad revenue jumped 75% to $376 million.

It does not break out the share of advertising generated by podcasts, but CEO Daniel Ek said growth was in triple digits over the same period in 2020, becoming a significant contributor to overall advertising growth.

Spotify, which entered into podcasts in 2018, currently has 3.2 million podcasts on its platform and continues to build.