Privacy Archives - AdsWizz

The Great Measurement Reset: Audio’s Brandformance Moment

Alexandra Ilie — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:32:29 +0000

Audio measurement is facing its most dramatic shift in years. The familiar benchmarks that once defined success are no longer enough. Advertisers want more than impressions and CPMs. They want proof that campaigns move the needle on awareness, engagement, and sales.

For publishers, that makes this a pivotal moment. Those who can demonstrate audio’s full impact have a chance to reset perceptions and capture a larger share of ad budgets.

A Measurement Reckoning

According to Edison Research’s Share of Ear, Q2 2025, Americans spend about four hours each day with audio. Yet audio continues to receive a disproportionately small share of ad budgets. eMarketer reports that audio accounts for 21% of media time but just 4.5% of total media investment.

Without better measurement tools, publishers risk seeing the medium remain undervalued in an environment where advertisers increasingly demand proof of impact. This growing demand for accountability has set the stage for a new marketing model that bridges the gap between reach and results.

Why Brandformance Matters

Brandformance combines the emotional pull of brand advertising with the accountability of performance marketing. Marketers are moving past the old divide between brand and performance. They’re embracing this hybrid model, which ties long-term brand-building to measurable outcomes.

In short, brandformance means campaigns should not only build recognition but also prompt measurable action. Oxford Road’s Q1 2025 study, The Sound of Growth, found that audio advertising drives an average of 18% of branded search volume, with some brands seeing the number climb above 40% when campaigns are sustained.

In today’s environment of stricter privacy rules and rising consumer expectations, this dual focus is essential. Only measurement that captures both brand impact and direct response can show audio’s full potential. In other words, brandformance proves that what builds your brand can also drive your business, and audio is uniquely positioned to deliver both.

Audio’s Unique Fit

Audio is particularly well-suited to this approach. Its immersive quality allows advertisers to build emotional connections, while its flexibility enables clear calls to action. Nielsen podcast brand lift studies have shown that audio ads can improve brand recommendation by +6%.

For publishers, positioning audio within this full-funnel context is essential. Demonstrating how campaigns build brands while also driving measurable actions strengthens credibility and deepens advertiser trust.

Resetting the Measurement Stack

Meeting this moment requires more than a new mindset. Publishers need systems that link listening to results—without compromising privacy.

Advances in attribution are helping publishers close the loop between audio exposure and listener action. AdsWizz’s AudioPixel allows advertisers to measure performance in real time within an audio-first environment.

AdsWizz has also developed formats like ShakeMe, which lets listeners interact with an ad by shaking their device, making engagement trackable even without on-screen interaction. Another feature, Second Screen, links audio ads with display campaigns by targeting listeners on the same device or within the same household (where allowed). This reinforces messaging and improves response rates.

Together, these tools show how audio is evolving from a medium long associated with reach and awareness to one that delivers clear, measurable outcomes across the funnel.

Protecting Privacy Provides an Advantage

The advertising industry has spent the past few years adjusting to regulations like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California. At the same time, consumers have become more aware of how their data is collected and used.

For publishers, acknowledging this shift can often be a strength rather than a setback. Privacy-supportive approaches such as Comscore Predictive Audiences, offered through AdsWizz, make it possible to reach aggregated, contextual audience segments defined predictively from consumption patterns rather than relying on individual-level data. This allows advertisers to stay data-driven while fully respecting privacy requirements. By demonstrating the ability to combine meaningful audience insights with privacy protection, publishers can unlock premium budgets and foster long-term advertiser relationships.

What Publishers Should Do Now

The opportunity is real, but it demands decisive action. Publishers that move now can close the measurement gap and position audio as a core, results-driven channel within the media mix.

Publishers looking to lead the reset should:

Audit existing measurement practices and identify gaps
Invest in attribution systems that connect listening to actions
Educate advertisers about audio’s evolving measurement capabilities
Partner with a tech platform (such as AdsWizz) that provides transparent tools and works seamlessly within regulatory requirements

Redefining Audio Advertising Through Brandformance

The measurement reset is redefining what success looks like in the audio era. For too long, this medium has been judged by outdated standards that fail to capture its full impact. With brandformance as the guiding framework and modern tools to back it up, publishers can demonstrate that audio drives both brand power and business results.

Those who embrace this shift will not only secure more investment today, but they will shape the next generation of audio advertising built on accountability, creativity, and growth.

This is the moment for publishers and advertisers to work together to prove audio’s full impact.

Reach out today to learn how we can partner on building measurement solutions that prove audio’s full impact.

by Alexandra Ilie, Senior Product Marketing Manager

The post The Great Measurement Reset: Audio’s Brandformance Moment appeared first on AdsWizz.

Privacy-Focused Audio Advertising: The New Standard for Reaching Digital Audiences

Bianca Stanescu — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 12:52:24 +0000

The era of hyper-targeted ads isn’t fading—but it is transforming. As consumers demand more control over their personal data, privacy and trust are the new currency in digital advertising. For brands invested in digital audio, this shift opens up new opportunities—not just to comply, but to build deeper trust with listeners.

Let’s explore how to lead with privacy in your audio campaigns and stay ahead of the curve.

Trust Is the New Currency

As privacy concerns grow, many companies are facing issues balancing personalization with respecting consumer privacy. However, brands need to remember that privacy-focused ad strategies don’t just foster compliance—they drive long-term customer loyalty. In fact, 71% of users say that they would stop supporting a company that mishandles their sensitive information.

Brands that focus their efforts on transparency, obtaining clear consent, and use responsibly sourced data are viewed more favorably. Over eight in 10 consumers say data protection is essential to building trust. So, openness about how and why data is collected, and handling it with care, are not nice-to-haves; they are musts in the current landscape.

Why Privacy Is Defining the Future of Audio Advertising

Recent studies reveal that 61% of Americans are skeptical of companies’ ability to protect their data and increasingly wary of data collection practices. To stay compliant and maintain trust, brands must be transparent and adopt ethical data practices.

Users also want personalized ads. According to studies, 82% of consumers react positively to brands that advertise products they find useful. Balancing these seemingly opposing forces has become the next frontier in effective audio advertising, where superior targeting capabilities and first-party data allow for both privacy-forward strategies and greater personalization.

Balancing Privacy, Regulation, and Innovation

The audio advertising industry is at a major crossroads as tracking methods undergo significant changes. This shift comes in response to users’ changing perceptions of control over data privacy, evolving collection norms, and regulatory pressure. But technological innovations are delivering targeting accuracy and creative personalization without sacrificing trust.

Going Beyond Third-Party Cookies and MAIDs

Digital audio advertising is moving beyond cookies and mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs)—traditional staples for targeting and tracking listeners. As data shows, two in three Americans turn off cookies to protect their privacy. Brands that continue relying solely on these signals will face limitations in both reach and measurement accuracy.

Embracing First-Party Data Strategies

New frameworks allow for privacy-aligned targeting, providing advertisers with scalable solutions that amplify compliance and user trust. Many forward-thinking brands are pivoting towards opted-in, first-party data strategies. First-party data enables transparent relationships with listeners and provides deeper, more accurate behavioral insights.

At AdsWizz, we focus on integrating frameworks that support scalable, privacy-forward targeting—including UID2, NetID, and ID5. Unique ID values are generated on publisher properties and sent client-side as first-party data. AdsWizz supports publishers in implementing these solutions, working alongside third-party providers to ensure compliance with data protection standards.

Privacy-Forward Solutions That Still Deliver Precision

Audio advertisers don’t have to choose between effectiveness and privacy. By partnering with an adtech provider that focuses on privacy-forward solutions, you can achieve strong campaign results while adhering to ethical practices.

Aggregated Data Models

AdsWizz employs truncated or aggregated data models to predict audience demographics and preferences without exposing personal identifiers. For example, Predictive Audiences—in partnership with Comscore—is a cookie-free solution that provides access to hundreds of audience segments based on listeners’ interests, activities, and behaviors. It enables advertisers to deliver personalized content and reach new categories by leveraging context rather than user identifiers.

Contextual Audio Adtech

Contextual advertising is rapidly emerging as a leading privacy-preserving alternative. Rather than relying on cookies or behavioral history, it targets listening context, such as mood, genre, time of day, or even weather. This approach enables brands to deliver highly relevant ads at the right moment without compromising privacy. On AdsWizz, contextual targeting now represents 60% of all targeting, based on impressions measured by show, mood, and Comscore Predictive Audiences.

Action Plan: Building a Privacy-Focused Audio Strategy

To balance personalization with privacy:

Partner with adtech providers that prioritize ethical data use and communicate clearly about processing
Use contextual targeting for relevant messaging without intrusion
Adopt scalable, privacy-forward solutions such as predictive modeling and aggregated data
Move away from intrusive tracking toward sustainable, trust-centered targeting

Transitioning to privacy-forward tools isn’t just a compliance step; it’s a smart way to stand out and earn lasting trust. Through integrations built with privacy in mind, AdsWizz supports customers in their own compliance journeys. With privacy-forward audio adtech, you can protect your brand while creating more meaningful connections with your audience.

The future of targeting is here. Are you ready? Contact us today to get started.

by Bianca Stanescu, Senior Director, Product Marketing

The post Privacy-Focused Audio Advertising: The New Standard for Reaching Digital Audiences appeared first on AdsWizz.

From Reach to Relevance: The New Era of Podcast Advertising Is Here

AdsWizz — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 16:04:33 +0000

Read this article by our very own Guy Taylor, Senior Business Development Manager!

Podcast advertising can no longer be ignored. It has become a strategic priority for brands seeking to connect with engaged, niche audiences. According to Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial UK 2025, 51% of UK adults aged 16 and over have listened to or watched a podcast in the past month, representing an estimated 25 million people. This marks a significant rise from previous years and highlights the medium’s growing reach and influence. But this growth is not just about reach; it's about relevance.

The post From Reach to Relevance: The New Era of Podcast Advertising Is Here appeared first on AdsWizz.

Activate Smarter Audio Advertising With Contextual Targeting

Bianca Stanescu — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 20:11:40 +0000

Consumers have caught on to how their data is being used—and they’re tired of it. As traditional targeting methods come under increasing scrutiny, contextual targeting is emerging as the gold standard for delivering relevant, impactful advertising. It’s how leading brands drive results while respecting user privacy.

Contextual advertising doesn’t rely on personal data but still connects with listeners based on their situational context. It’s smart, scalable, and built for a privacy-first future.

Privacy obligations aside, it simply works better to serve relevant ads to the right audiences at the right moments without tracking their every move. When consumers tell you where they like to spend time, there’s no need to peek through the blinds.

Why Contextual Is the New Gold Standard

People are spending their days with audio, and the numbers speak for themselves.

According to Edison Research’s Share of Ear Report (Q1 2025), listeners are spending four hours and 29 minutes hours a day with audio, using it as a companion throughout their daily routines.

SiriusXM Media’s User Study 2024 reinforces this: 64% of people listen while doing chores, 50% while cooking, 48% while working, and 44% while exercising. More than 30% also tune in while commuting, getting ready, playing video games, or relaxing at home. Nearly 80% of all audio listening happens when visual media isn’t available, making audio more integrated into daily life than most screen-based advertising.

That level of listener integration demands the same from advertisers. Ads that align with listeners’ routines boost brand connection by 12%, while ads that miss the moment achieve just a 3% lift.

The impact of contextual relevance is striking:

Emotional impact is 156% higher with culturally relevant ads.
According to Deloitte Digital, brands incorporating personalization into their ad campaigns experienced a 50% growth, with advertising budgets rising by 29% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
More than 70% of brands and agencies are expanding their first-party data sets.

Mood, Weather, and Location Signals in Audio

Contextual targeting is a win-win for listeners and advertisers. It connects brands with more receptive audiences while reducing irrelevant ad clutter for those who might otherwise be open to the right message.

For example, a regional outdoor brand can promote lightweight waterproof outerwear to listeners within 25 miles of retail locations who are streaming a “Running Mix” during rainy weather—all without compromising privacy.

Weather Targeting

Weather influences behavior, and your advertising should reflect that. With updates every 60 minutes using live data from trusted sources, weather targeting allows brands to deliver messages tailored to current conditions.

Trigger dynamic ads based on weather types like thunderstorms, fog, drizzle, clear skies, or snow, and go deeper with environmental triggers such as UV index, humidity, barometric pressure, and pollen count.

Location Targeting

Today’s location targeting goes far beyond basic geography. With powerful tools, you can go beyond the basics and engage listeners where they are with surgical precision.

Reach users by country, region, city, DMA, or MSA
Target specific points of interest, like a five-mile radius around airports, gyms, restaurants, or campuses
Home in on postal codes or even exact GPS coordinates

Mood Targeting

In audio environments, mood isn’t just a vibe—it’s a signal. We analyze over 60 million tracks and use a blend of machine learning, expert human curation, and real-time scoring to detect emotional tone. With 10 rich mood segments, advertisers can align their message with listeners’ emotional state, whether that’s focused, happy, angsty, or soothing.

Life Moments, Trends, and Seasonal Targeting

Advertisers can go even deeper with new segmentation layers that reflect how, when, and why people listen. Dynamic Top Lineups, Music by Activity, and Seasonality segments unlock powerful new ways to match your message to the moment.

Activity-based segments let you engage during everyday routines—from working out and studying to cooking, gaming, or partying.
Top Chart segments help you tap into cultural momentum with listeners who stream the week’s Top 50 songs, with added filters for Millennials and Gen Z.
Seasonal moments give your brand relevance during key life and cultural events, like back-to-school, Pride Month, summer vacation, or Halloween.

Enhancing Listener Relevance Without Personal Identifiers

Privacy concerns are real, with 65% of Americans skeptical about data privacy efforts and 71% saying they would end their relationship with companies that mishandle sensitive data. Most important to advertisers: 83% of consumers consider data protection crucial for building trust.

The industry’s response has been transformative, with solutions like anonymized data processing, clean rooms, and predictive audiences leading the way. AdsWizz’s partnership with pioneering ID-less firm NumberEight exemplifies this shift. AdsWizz uses anonymized contextual data and machine learning to deliver precise demographic insights without compromising personal privacy.

We’re committed to privacy-first advertising, with 60% of global targeting on AdsWizz now using contextual signals. This marks a clear shift from traditional tracking to smarter, more respectful methods. Simply put, advertisers connect with audiences using the information people choose to share, not what they want to keep private.

Skip Ahead in Your Audio Advertising With AdsWizz

We’re not just part of the audio advertising evolution. We’re leading it.

Our technology delivers personalized, privacy-safe audio ads at scale. Each month, we power 16 billion impressions and scan 40 million podcast episodes to ensure brand safety and relevance. Tap into contextual targeting through weather, mood, location and more data signals—while meeting the highest privacy standards.

Ready to transform your approach? Connect with us today!

by Bianca Stanescu, Senior Director, Product Marketing

The post Activate Smarter Audio Advertising With Contextual Targeting appeared first on AdsWizz.

How to Win in the New Era of Digital Audio Advertising

Daniel Einhorn — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:36:24 +0000

Audio advertising is moving faster than ever, and the brands that embrace these changes are the ones seeing the biggest wins. With the rise of audio adtech, advertisers have more tools than ever to connect with audiences in impactful ways.

With all this innovation, where should advertisers focus, what trends are shaping digital audio, and how can brands make the most of it?

To answer these questions, I sat down with Garrison Dua, VP of Demand at AdsWizz, to explore how advancements in audio adtech are transforming the industry and what advertisers should expect in the near future.

Programmatic Audio Delivers Scale, Efficiency, and Personalization

How has programmatic audio advertising evolved, and what role does AdsWizz play in this transformation?

Garrison: Programmatic audio has grown exponentially, enabling advertisers to scale and optimize campaigns in real time. By leveraging automation, dynamic ad insertion (DAI), and host-read ads, brands can reach audiences in more engaging and efficient ways.

Additionally, advancements in AI-driven targeting and real-time bidding have further empowered advertisers to fine-tune messaging and maximize ROI. With increased personalization and seamless cross-platform integration, programmatic audio has become a vital part of any digital strategy aimed at connecting with today’s audiences.

Contextual and Privacy-First Targeting Are Redefining Relevance

What trends in audience targeting are shaping the future of audio advertising?

Garrison: We’re seeing a major shift toward first-party data and contextual targeting. At AdsWizz, 60% of our targeting dimensions are contextual, allowing advertisers to reach listeners based on mood, location, and even weather. This kind of hyper-relevant messaging enhances engagement while maintaining consumer trust.

Advancements in AI-driven contextual analysis are refining targeting precision, ensuring ads are both relevant and timed for maximum impact. As third-party cookies disappear, brands are turning to these advanced methods to engage consumers in a more meaningful, compliant way.

As brands navigate this terrain, they’re rethinking not just who they reach, but how they say it and when it hits. Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) and Synthetic Voice are reshaping audio advertising, allowing real-time testing of variations in tone, length, and calls to action. Combined with real-time inventory data from custom DSP dashboards, this agile, data-driven approach accelerates testing, cuts costs, and confirms audio as a high-performing channel.

Anonymized Data and Predictive Audiences Enable Safe Personalization

With privacy regulations tightening, how is AdsWizz ensuring advertisers can still deliver personalized campaigns?

Garrison: Privacy is a top priority. AdsWizz enables brands to maintain personalization without compromising user trust by leveraging anonymized data and predictive audiences. Through partnerships with behavioral intelligence firms, anonymized data helps predict audience demographics and preferences while ensuring personal information is never collected.

Comscore Predictive Audiences technology uses AI-driven models to segment and engage users in a privacy-safe manner, replacing traditional identifiers with data-backed insights.

To future-proof audience targeting, AdsWizz integrates with UID2 and ID5, ensuring advertisers can continue reaching their audiences in a cookieless world. Additionally, data clean rooms are providing a secure way to analyze and activate insights while maintaining transparency and compliance with privacy regulations.

Omnichannel Audio Is Breaking the Screen Barrier

How is the integration of audio with video and social media changing the digital advertising landscape?

Garrison: The lines between audio, video, and social media are blurring. Podcasts are often consumed on video platforms, and we’re seeing brands lean into this shift. By combining interactive audio ads with dynamic video placements, advertisers can create truly omnichannel experiences. Tools like second-screen retargeting and AudioPixel help unify these touchpoints—driving measurable outcomes, maintaining user privacy, and delivering personalized engagement across every screen.

AI, Automation, and Open Ecosystems Are Leading the Way

What’s next for AdsWizz and the broader audio adtech industry in 2025 and beyond?

Garrison Dua: Automation and AI will continue to drive efficiency, making campaigns smarter and more responsive. Programmatic podcast advertising is set to explode, and open ecosystems will gain traction over walled gardens. At AdsWizz, we’re focused on helping advertisers and publishers stay ahead of these shifts with cutting-edge tools that maximize engagement, brand safety, and monetization opportunities.

The Future of Audio Advertising: Smarter, More Personalized, and Already Here

After talking with Garrison, it’s clear that audio advertising is entering a new era, driven by automation, personalization, and seamless omnichannel integration. Brands that embrace programmatic innovation and privacy-first solutions will be the ones capturing audience attention in the most meaningful ways. With AdsWizz leading the charge, the future of digital audio isn’t just promising; it is already here.

Want to Dive Deeper into the Future of Audio Adtech?

Ready to collaborate on your next campaign? Let’s connect!
Want to dive deeper into audio adtech? Download The State of Audio Adtech Report 2025 for the latest insights and innovations shaping digital audio.

by Daniel Einhorn, Senior Manager, Content Marketing

The post How to Win in the New Era of Digital Audio Advertising appeared first on AdsWizz.

How Brand Safety Can Make or Break Your Digital Audio Ad Strategy

Catalin Georgescu — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 14:21:36 +0000

Confidence in digital advertising comes from control—control over where ads run, how they perform, and whether they align with brand values. As audio advertising surges in popularity, advertisers and agencies seek greater transparency, stronger brand safety measures, and more refined tools to combat fraud and ensure their message reaches the right audience in suitable environments.

Why Brand Safety is Essential

As audio publishers embrace advanced adtech and brand safety solutions, advertisers can reach their target audiences with confidence—without compromising security or content suitability. This evolution is transforming digital audio into a more dynamic and impactful medium for advertisers.

As Franz Bernstein, VP of Ad Product at SiriusXM Media & AdsWizz, explains in The State of Audio Adtech Report 2025, ensuring ads appear in the right environments is key to fostering deeper, more authentic connections between brands and listeners:

“We’re redefining audio as a versatile and powerful pillar of digital engagement. It’s no longer just about delivering ads—it’s about reaching listeners wherever they are with personalized, contextually relevant, and privacy-first experiences. By adapting to audience environments and prioritizing brand safety, audio now fosters deeper, more authentic connections—turning every moment into an opportunity for meaningful impact.”

This shift toward privacy-first, contextually relevant experiences is only possible when advertisers have control over where their ads appear. Without strong safety measures, ads risk being placed alongside misaligned or inappropriate content, undermining both trust and effectiveness.

Key Benefits of Brand Safety

Brand safety ensures ads appear in contextually appropriate environments.
Advanced verification tools help brands reach real, engaged audiences.
Real-time transparency allows advertisers to monitor ad placements and performance.

Why Advertisers Are Demanding More Control

The stakes are high for brands investing in digital audio. Unlike other media, audio often delivers intimate, one-on-one engagement with listeners, making alignment with brand values even more critical. However, traditional brand safety measures—such as broad keyword blocking or avoiding entire content categories—have often limited advertisers’ reach.

With more comprehensive brand safety solutions available, brands can confidently place ads in contextually relevant environments that support both brand image and campaign performance.

Next-Generation Audio Adtech: Transparency and Protection

Cutting-edge audio adtech is giving advertisers unprecedented control, providing real-time transparency into where ads are running and how they’re performing. These features eliminate guesswork, ensuring campaigns reach real, engaged audiences.

Instant tracking: Advertisers see real-time data on ad placements and performance.
Fraud prevention: Invalid Traffic (IVT) filtering helps block bots, fake traffic, and fraudulent domains before they cause harm.
Smarter targeting: Improved contextual intelligence ensures ads appear in brand-safe environments without restricting reach.

By purchasing inventory through secure marketplaces like the AdsWizz Marketplace, advertisers can connect with verified audiences, protecting both their ad budgets and brand reputation.

The Future of Audio Advertising is Built on Trust

With growing brand safety solutions, real-time transparency, and advanced fraud prevention, advertisers no longer have to choose between security and scale. The rise of real-time verification, suitability controls, and bot filtering is fueling greater confidence, allowing brands to invest in audio with trust and precision.

Why This Matters for Advertisers

More secure placements: Ads appear in suitable, fraud-free environments.
Higher engagement: Reaching real audiences leads to better campaign performance.
Stronger brand reputation: Avoiding unsafe placements enhances trust and credibility.

As the industry continues to evolve, these advancements are making digital audio one of the most reliable, effective, and impactful advertising channels today.

Want to Dive Deeper into the Future of Audio Adtech?

Download The State of Audio Adtech Report 2025 for the latest insights on brand safety, transparency, and the innovations shaping digital audio.

by Catalin Georgescu, Senior Product Marketing Manager

The post How Brand Safety Can Make or Break Your Digital Audio Ad Strategy appeared first on AdsWizz.

Maximize Reach and Privacy with AdsWizz and NumberEight

AdsWizz — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Advertisers today can face various challenges in the audio advertising industry, including shrinking addressable inventory and growing restrictions on identity signals. As traditional identity signals become less scalable with platforms and regulations filtering out device identifiers, the need for innovative solutions has become more pressing than ever.

To address this, AdsWizz is proud to announce cutting-edge enhancements to its podcast advertising capabilities through a partnership with pioneering ID-less data firm NumberEight. These advancements will enable highly targeted, privacy-compliant ads that redefine how advertisers connect with podcast audiences.

Why This Partnership Matters

Traditional podcast advertising relies heavily on IP-based or authenticated traffic data, leading to privacy challenges and limitations in demographic accuracy. While IP addresses can match household-level data, they are unreliable for individual-specific insights, such as age or gender. NumberEight addresses this with a privacy-friendly, ID-less approach that uses anonymized contextual data and machine learning to deliver precise demographic insights free from exchanging personally identifiable information (PII) or compromising personal privacy.

“As privacy standards evolve, our partnership with NumberEight allows us to redefine how advertisers connect with audiences—balancing precision and privacy,” says Anne Frisbie, SVP of Global Business Development at AdsWizz. “This collaboration sets a new standard for improved audience engagement in podcast advertising.”

How It Works (and Why It’s Better than the Rest)

NumberEight’s solution utilizes RSS feed data from publishers, predicting audience demographics without relying on traditional identity signals. Instead, NumberEight uses anonymized first-party data sources from direct integrations with apps, census datasets, and data modeling. This privacy-friendly approach leverages machine learning to safeguard user privacy while providing reliable insights—ensuring that advertisers can effectively reach the right audiences at scale without geographical constraints.

Key Benefits

Advertisers – Reach new podcast audience segments with unprecedented scale, enhancing campaign impact and precision while maintaining privacy compliance.
Publishers and Inventory Sellers – Increase monetization by integrating enhanced demographic data, boosting the value of podcast inventory across platforms like AudioMax and AudioServe.
Podcast Networks – Boost programmatic sales and make inventory more appealing to advertisers by offering comprehensive demographic insights, all while adhering to strict privacy standards.

Seamless Integration with AdsWizz Platforms

NumberEight’s technology is fully integrated with our real-time data aggregation and enrichment solution called Sonar Demographics, available in the AdsWizz product suite, including AudioServe Campaign Manager, AudioMatic DSP, AudioMax SSP, and Simplecast by AdsWizz (Professional Tier). This seamless integration means that podcast content creators, resellers, and advertisers can effortlessly access demographic insights without additional implementation.

Abhishek Sen, CEO & Co-Founder at NumberEight, says: “Podcast advertising has been notoriously difficult for a long time – platform fragmentation, lack of reliable and scalable targeting data, privacy regulations, and more. This partnership with AdsWizz finally tilts this balance by leveraging the latest in cross-domain AI to give advertisers the ability to deliver highly personalized messages while upholding the highest standards of privacy and compliance.”

Shaping the Future of Podcast Advertising with Privacy-Friendly Innovation

By filling the gaps in PII and focusing on anonymized contextual data, AdsWizz and NumberEight are setting a new standard for podcast advertising—enabling effective audience targeting while adhering to privacy standards.

Ready to elevate your podcast advertising, expand reach, and boost performance? Contact us today to get started!

If you’re an existing customer, check our AdsWizz knowledge base for more details.

The post Maximize Reach and Privacy with AdsWizz and NumberEight appeared first on AdsWizz.

Insights from Programmatic I/O 2024

Catalin Georgescu — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:38:07 +0000

Untapping Opportunities in Audio Advertising

Programmatic I/O 2024 in New York highlighted various trends in digital advertising, including rising privacy regulations, tighter tracking restrictions, media fragmentation, declining engagement, and complex systems driven by vanity metrics. To offset these challenges, the event stressed the need for attention-grabbing strategies, greater transparency, supply chain optimization, and the growing role of AI. Reflecting on these discussions, here are key areas where digital audio ads are uniquely positioned to address these obstacles and shape the future of digital advertising.

Tackling Media Fragmentation and Attention Fatigue

One key theme was the growing fragmentation of media channels, making it more challenging than ever for advertisers to reach consumers. Audio platforms like podcasts and streaming services cut through the noise by offering an immersive space for listeners to genuinely tune in. In a world overflowing with visual ads, audio delivers messages in a more personal, less disruptive way—whether the audience is driving, working out, or juggling tasks.

Programmatic audio fits effortlessly into cross-channel strategies, becoming a secret weapon for campaign success. For example, by harnessing first-party data, retargeting, and ad-capping, brands can align their audio ads with other digital messaging to keep things consistent and avoid redundancy pitfalls.

Automation: Simplifying Digital Advertising

Automation and efficiency were prominent topics at this year’s conference, and yes, audio solutions are transforming this part of the industry as well. Once difficult to scale due to their host-read format, podcast ads now combine the personal touch of a host’s voice with the reach of programmatic buying.

Today’s audio innovations make it easier to launch campaigns quickly, maintain authenticity, and integrate into broader media strategies. Additionally, greater supply chain transparency and adherence to industry standards are streamlining the ecosystem, cutting costs, and boosting performance, addressing the complex challenges advertisers face today.

First-Party Data and Privacy: Audio’s Unique Advantage

The shift to first-party data and privacy-focused signals is reshaping digital advertising, and digital audio is ready to thrive. By tapping into first-party data, audio delivers targeted ads tailored to podcast topics or music genres, aligning with the industry’s evolving standards. With advanced targeting, brands can craft personalized messages based on listener behavior—without intrusive tracking.

Comscore Predictive Audiences goes further, offering a cutting-edge, cookie-free solution that unlocks over 300 audience segments, from TV habits to location-based activities. Paired with AdsWizz AI Transcription Technology, it ensures accurate targeting, even when signals are limited.

Cultivating emotional connections with listeners can coexist with protecting online users’ privacy. Mood targeting allows brands to connect more effectively with audiences by using privacy-conscious contextual signals, reaching them with music that aligns with the listener’s current mood. By placing ads between songs that match the mood of the music, brands can deliver more relevant messages, creating a more emotionally resonant and contextually meaningful advertising experience for listeners.

Optimization and Efficiency: Audio Adtech’s Competitive Edge

One of the key takeaways from the conference was the need for greater efficiency in programmatic ad buying, an area where audio adtech excels.

Dynamic ad insertion (DAI) enables precise, real-time ad placement, ensuring contextually relevant messages that boost user engagement and minimize wasted ad spend by targeting the right audience. This personalized approach benefits marketers, podcast producers, and streaming publishers by boosting engagement, increasing revenue, and addressing the growing need for more precise brand safety measures.

Cross-Channel Synergies: Audio’s Role in Holistic Measurement

Cross-channel measurement also took center stage, emphasizing the need to unify fragmented data across platforms.

Digital audio, especially podcasts, plays a vital role in this effort. Audio performs well on its own and amplifies the impact of other media, such as Connected TV (CTV) and social media. Research shows that combining podcast ads with CTV boosts brand recall and message association. Tools like AudioPixel further enhance this dynamic by tracking listener behavior and connecting podcast ad exposure to actions like website visits or purchases, making audio a crucial part of today’s integrated advertising strategies.

Enhancing Creativity with AI in Audio

Generative AI emerged as a prominent topic at the summit, and there was plenty of buzz about its power to transform creativity in advertising.

Audio is already ahead of the curve, thanks to synthetic voice technology that lets brands quickly produce personalized, scalable, and contextually relevant ads. With Synthetic Voice Ads now available on AudioGO and expanding across the AdsWizz platform, advertisers can easily create customizable voiceovers, making unlimited tweaks or script changes without missing a beat. This innovation reflects our commitment to pushing the boundaries of audio tech, with even more AI-driven tools on the horizon to supercharge the platform.

Audio Advertising is Leading the Charge

Audio advertising is poised to meet the industry challenges facing digital media presented at Programmatic I/O 2024 with its engaging, targeted, and flexible approach in a privacy-friendly way. As media fragments and capturing attention grows tougher, audio provides brands with a powerful way to connect. Focused on simplicity, efficiency, and creativity, it’s a future-ready channel in the digital landscape.

In 2025, don’t just keep up—lead the way. Invest in audio adtech now for a competitive edge and stronger audience connections. Contact us today to explore the benefits!

by Catalin Georgescu, Senior Product Marketing Manager

The post Insights from Programmatic I/O 2024 appeared first on AdsWizz.

Reflections on Programmatic I/O Las Vegas 2024

Catalin Georgescu — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 02:58:19 +0000

Programmatic I/O Las Vegas has always been the go-to event for digital advertising pros eager to dive into the latest industry trends and innovations. This year’s Las Vegas gathering was no exception, with its whirlwind of innovation, spirited debates, and groundbreaking insights. Industry leaders and experts took on pressing issues in programmatic advertising, from the looming end of third-party cookies to evolving privacy regulations and the rise of GenAI, offering a crystal-clear glimpse into the future of the industry.

As an attendee, I found the event’s insights especially relevant to the world of audio advertising. The discussions underscored the need to adapt to technological advancements, navigate shifting consumer behaviors, and comply with stringent privacy regulations.

The bottom line? Innovation is the key to effectively reaching and engaging audiences.

My Takeaways

1. Shifting Towards Privacy-Conscious Advertising

The deprecation of third-party cookies and initiatives like Google’s Privacy Sandbox are pushing the industry towards more privacy-conscious approaches. Advertisers and publishers must adapt by utilizing first-party data and developing cookieless advertising strategies. Sophisticated detection techniques and incrementality are essential for navigating the cookieless ad tech landscape.

We saw the writing on the wall early. Our commitment to innovation and privacy-centered targeting remains steadfast, with more developments to come from our ongoing work to strengthen industry partnerships.

2. Importance of In-Housing and Control

Maximizing the impact of audio in advertising demands a holistic approach that enhances control and agility, with investment in technology, talent, and infrastructure. Organizations that embrace innovation and develop advanced capabilities can more easily experiment with new technologies.

This involves mastering large-scale audience segmentation, staying updated on real-time opportunities, incorporating enhanced attribution techniques, and employing innovative strategies like Second-Screen Retargeting and ShakeMe.

3. Value and Challenges of Transparency and First-Party Data

Transparency is crucial for building consumer trust but requires more regulation and buyer understanding. Brands must implement a robust consent management framework to communicate how audio advertising campaigns collect, use, and protect data, allowing users to control their data-sharing preferences. Education, accountability, and transparent practices are necessary for mutual benefits.

First-party data is highly valuable, but its effective utilization requires meticulous data management and industry-wide collaboration. To fully unlock its potential, advertisers must tackle challenges related to data accuracy, privacy concerns, and the complexities of programmatic advertising.

We anticipated the challenges early on and developed an industry-first, cookie-free targeting capability paired with AI Transcription Technology. Predictive Audiences remove the uncertainty from the signal-light podcast environment by creating a contextual pathway for target audiences.

4. Balancing Cost Efficiency and Value

Another recurring topic was the delicate balance between cost efficiency and value. While it’s tempting to prioritize cheaper advertising options, true value extends beyond the price tag. Investing in quality placements, robust metrics, and effective attribution strategies can yield better results and drive meaningful outcomes.

We have been committed to closing the loop on audio measurement with advanced attribution tools, and it’s been fantastic to witness the results of our efforts. In a recent campaign, Hyundai was able to drive brand awareness, influence consumer purchasing decisions, and get an impressive 8,000+ leads.

5. Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Digital Advertising

The rise of AI in content generation and automation is always part of the conversation, and Programmatic IO was no exception, delving deep into AI topics. Discussions highlighted AI’s potential to revolutionize content generation, automate tasks, and enhance advertising effectiveness, while also addressing ethical concerns related to data privacy and algorithmic bias.

As part of our vision to shape the future of audio, we have been exploring how AI can amplify the impact of our audio portfolio to reach new audiences and deliver more intelligent and effective solutions for advertisers. Our recent Synthetic Voice Ads solution has gained a lot of traction as a cost-effective creative tool that enables brands to select from a variety of voices when creating an ad.

Embracing the Future

Programmatic I/O Las Vegas 2024 offered deep insights into modern digital advertising, with key topics such as in-housing benefits, privacy complexities, AI, and the value of first-party data. It was fantastic connecting in person with industry peers, brands, and advertisers.

Looking ahead, it became clear to me that success in digital advertising will hinge on collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to privacy. Embracing data-driven strategies will keep us ahead in this dynamic field, and the insights gained will shape my future strategies as a product marketing leader.

Let’s talk more! Are you an audio publisher looking for award-winning monetization solutions, or do you want to advertise in streaming audio or podcasts? Contact us now to learn how AdsWizz can help grow your digital audio footprint!

by Catalin Georgescu, Senior Product Marketing Manager

The post Reflections on Programmatic I/O Las Vegas 2024 appeared first on AdsWizz.

Shaping the Future of Audio Advertising

Daniel Einhorn — Fri, 03 May 2024 15:56:21 +0000

In a recent interview I conducted with my colleague Dave Sosson, Senior Manager of Business Development, Programmatic Demand at AdsWizz, Dave discussed the challenges, technological advancements, and strategic insights shaping the audio advertising industry.

Dave’s experience spans five years in digital audio and fifteen years before that in roles across programmatic video, gaming, and integrated display media. Dave works on the AudioMatic DSP team, providing agencies and brands access to technology to deploy comprehensive digital audio campaigns spanning streaming audio and podcasts.

With all the changes in digital audio and the constant shifts in consumer behavior, how has programmatic demand evolved to keep up?

We’ve observed significant advancements in measurement techniques, particularly within our audio DSP platform. By integrating attribution, we now have the capability to monitor up to eight distinct online conversion events, commonly referred to in the industry as “hear-through.” This means that even if a listener hears an audio advertisement and later converts through another medium—like converting via search or social media at the office after their mass transit commute—we can still link the conversion back to the original audio ad. So, in the past, this had been a miss for audio. Now, we can tie audio and online conversions back to audio ads.

We also provide Second-Screen Retargeting (audio-to-display that gives more down-funnel metrics to examine the response), integrated AI transcription that automatically and intelligently transcribes and categorizes podcast episodes, and, lastly, block listening capabilities that stop fraudulent domains and malicious IPs.

Do you think advertisers should compare audio metrics to other forms of digital media?

The good news is that we can really start to compare engagement. A unified attribution strategy focused on site-driven metrics allows us to compare apples to apples. That said, comparing audio to a browser-based environment like display or online video can be challenging. Because audio advertising is deployed in a player-based environment, the comparisons will not apply on a pure apples-to-apples basis.

How would you help advertisers make sense of their performance data and take appropriate actions based on those insights?

We recommend using a bespoke approach with advertisers as we examine the different creative tools we can access. We want to ensure we’ve gotten as granular as possible from an audience perspective while balancing efficiency and detailed segmentation within the AudioMatic platform. For example, suppose we have a product for which we know the advertiser is looking to show action via mobile. In that case, we recommend utilizing the ShakeMe interactive unit.

Just shifting focus, could you discuss the role of the relationship among publishers, advertisers, and technology partners in driving the success of programmatic demand efforts?

We want the platform to be as robust and flexible as possible. We collaborate closely with our publisher partner teams to convey our clients’ demand needs (i.e., Automated Host-Read Ads and Multicultural Inventory access). We also have monthly (sometimes twice monthly) meetings with our agency partners utilizing the platform. Then, we can communicate that information regarding what we’re hearing so that what’s available lines up with what we’re being asked from the market.

Any standout examples of partnerships that come to mind?

We have some great case studies that speak to these metrics. Campaigns like Sea-Doo achieved a call-to-action rate of over 2% with Second Screen Retargeting, significantly outperforming the .05% rate typical of display advertising. With ShakeMe, we see averages of around 0.7% to 2.5%.

Moving to a topic that has implications across all facets of digital, how has your team adapted to keep up with recent changes in privacy law?

We’re not exactly sure when cookies will be a thing of the past. Still, when Google finally starts to deprecate cookies in Chrome at scale, many things will continue to evolve and become more accessible and privacy-friendly. We’ve been concentrating heavily on contextual targeting. It is a comprehensive and effective strategy, particularly in podcast advertising, where we have developed considerable expertise.

For example, Predictive Audiences is a cookie-less, privacy-friendly solution that combines AI transcription technology with contextual data via direct publisher connections in concert with 300-plus audiences from Comscore. Also, great things are happening on the music side, such as Mood Targeting, which helps brands better connect with audiences by reaching them while listening to music that matches the mood of the song they are listening to.

Are there any best practices you recommend for ensuring compliance with data privacy laws?

I think a crucial piece is that it has to do with first-party data. There’s always an interest in utilizing it. And so if that’s something that an advertiser has, and they want to use it as a means for reaching their customer base, then we need to be working with a partner as we do here (like with LiveRamp) so that we know we’re doing that in a compliant way. So, there are partners in the space where we can collaborate with our advertising partners to ensure compliance.

Let’s talk about the future of digital audio, particularly with programmatic. Do you see any key trends on the horizon?

Synthetic Voice combined with Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) to beta test ads. For example, if an advertiser wants to test different calls-to-action, we can create ads in real-time with Synthetic Voice technology to test different spot lengths. This can be coupled with our ability to view available inventory in real-time in custom dashboards built into our DSP platform. So, when you test different audio ads very (in terms of cost and investment) coupled with real-time availability, it is evident that audio is more than just a branding medium.

How about agencies? What’s one bit of advice you would give to an agency partner?

I think the most important thing that I would say is to take a holistic view of audio as an advertising vehicle. So, again, factoring in audience segmentation at scale, viewing it through a real-time availability lens, integrating attribution, and then utilizing creative solutions like Second-Screen Retargeting and ShakeMe.

Looking Ahead

My conversation with Dave was a testament to the innovative spirit and problem-solving ingenuity that drives the Adswizz mission. As we navigate the intricacies of programmatic audio advertising, it’s clear that the future holds immense possibilities. Together, we are setting the stage for an era of audio advertising that is more dynamic, effective, and connected than ever before.

Contact us today to learn more about AudioMatic and the audio advertising strategies that can help you achieve maximum audience engagement!

By Daniel Einhorn, Senior Manager, Content Marketing

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