Spotify acquires Podsights and Chartable

Spotify announced the acquisition of podcast advertising measurement service Podsights, as well as Chartable, a podcast analytics platform. The move aims at boosting measurement, attribution and insights in audio ad campaigns.

Brands looking to reach the large audiences drawn by popular podcasts will have a greater incentive to do so when they can improve the measurement and precision of campaigns. This, in turn, allows publishers and creators to monetize at a higher level because they can prove the impact of ads on their podcasts through attribution.

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These recent acquisitions follow a robust effort by Spotify to improve ad capabilities in the last two years. In 2020, Spotify launched Streaming Ad Insertion. Then, the opened up Spotify Audience Network, an audio-first ad marketplace.

In January 2022, Spotify introduced call-to-action cards, which appear on a listener’s smartphone screen when listening to podcasts that use this feature, creating a multimedia experience that is more interactive for users.

Why we care. Audio, and especially podcasts, have become a seamless part of their listeners’ lives. Podcasts are hands-free, allowing people to multitask while the experience follows them around via a mobile streaming service like Spotify.

The ad experience has to be nuanced and extremely relevant or else the trust built between fans and their favorite podcasts will be damaged. Brands don’t want to intrude or interrupt, they want to be invited guests on this growing channel.