Photo Credit: Sara Kurfeß
Spotify is preparing to make its Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) podcast technology more widely available to U.S. advertisers, in addition to testing an interactive ad function as part of the tech.
Spotify execs unveiled the Streaming Ad Insertion expansion and interactive ad rollout this morning, in an official release published under the “Spotify for Brands” banner.
The Stockholm-based platform first announced its Streaming Ad Insertion technology in January, at Las Vegas’s Consumer Electronics Show. Essentially, SAI optimizes the process associated with gathering demographic information about podcast listeners, including their age, gender, and listening behavior, to name just some.
Ad purchasers can then use this knowledge to effectively reach their desired audiences. Moreover, SAI grants advertisers access to bolstered statistics – impressions, frequency, and reach among them – unavailable to those who advertise in podcasts that are downloaded via RSS feeds.
Following a successful trial – and the recent announcement of multimillion-dollar podcast agreements with Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian West, and WarnerMedia – Spotify intends to make SAI “more widely available to US advertisers this summer.”
Plus, the leading music streaming service will alpha test the aforementioned interactive ad function through this year’s end, with select advertisers in the United States and Germany.
The advertisement tool allows sponsors to display a “visual reminder” of their in-program commercials for listeners. In the cited press release, Spotify higher-ups emphasized that many fans listen to podcasts while on the go – and find themselves temporarily unable to navigate to complex URLs (and input the corresponding promo codes).
With visual reminders (which will appear on podcasts’ main pages), Spotify aims to “make it easy for our listeners to connect directly with advertisers and their offers featured in podcasts.”
Spotify indicated today that it has partnered with Vice News to release a podcast entitled “Painkiller: America’s Fentanyl Crisis.” The eight-episode series – slated to become available next Monday, June 29th – will explore the impact of fentanyl, which is responsible for the most overdose deaths of any drug in America.