What you need to know
- Podcast ad revenue is on an upward trend right now.
- New numbers expect ad revenue to top $2.13 billion in the United States this year.
- $2.13 billion is a 47% increase on last year.
Podcast ad sales are expected to grow 47% throughout 2023, reaching an incredible $2.13 billion according to new research.
Citing numbers from IAB and PwC, Variety notes that while that's a huge increase over the $14.5 billion spent on ads in 2021, it's actually a deceleration compared to the previous growth seen from 2020 to 2021.
That's actually a deceleration from last year. The sector hit $1.45 billion in 2021, representing 72% annual growth, according to the report. In 2021, U.S. podcast advertising revenue grew twice as fast as the total internet advertising market, which was up 35% last year, according to the 2021 PwC/IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report.
The report believes that we can expect ad spend to increase to around $42. billion by 2024 thanks to an increase in both the number of people listening to podcasts as well as the number of podcasts actually available. Both create a perfect storm for dynamic ad insertion (DAI) with revenue from such ads having doubled in two years. DAI represented an 84% share of ad revenue in 2021.
"Everything right now is aligned to drive growth," said Chris Bruderle, IAB's VP of research and insights. "There's more engaging and diverse podcast content than ever, and that is translating into larger, more attractive audiences. But more than anything, podcasting has proven that it can deliver beyond direct-to-consumer advertising to support brand-building and drive business outcomes."
In terms of actually listening to podcasts, iPhone users are spoilt for choice. Apple offers its own Podcasts app while the list of the best iPhone apps for listening to podcasts is a long one with the App Store full of great options.
While some people report listening to fewer podcasts over the last two years due to the lack of a commute while they worked from home, it's clear that isn't preventing companies from putting money into ads.
