IAB Offers First 'Podcast Ad Metrics Guidelines'

Guidelines

In advance of TODAY's PODCAST UPFRONT (NET NEWS 9/7), the INTERNET ADVERTISING BUREAU has issued its "Podcast Ad Metrics Guidelines," a set of definitions of common terms and practices in the podcast industry, saying that the document "attempts to provide clarity in the marketplace by describing common and existing practices. It breaks down some of the technical details of content and ad delivery and then defines the commonly used metrics, with some examples on how to measure those metrics. While we expect this document to be  updated further as the market develops, we believe that this will help buyers, publishers, and the developers of technology by guiding them toward a common language."

The document notes that half of the market share for podcast players is held by the APPLE Podcasts app, "which prevents any client-side tracking or even the ability to count a 'play.' Podcast distributors must turn to server log analysis and report on ad delivery."  It also points out that while client-side tracking with the player as the client programmed to trigger notification to the server when an ad has been played is the most accurate for ad delivery counts, it represents less than 3% of all players being used.  Included in the guidelines are definitions of content and ad metric terms, from downloads to ad deliveries and plays.

The IAB summarizes the situation by pointing out how while podcast audiences are desirable as among the most engaged in media, measurement is "fragmented and ad-hoc" because "the medium is asynchronous and in most cases severed from data collection once delivered, which presents advertisers with measurement challenges."

Read the guidelines here.

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