# Counted, Not Heard: The State of Audio Advertising in 2026

*An audit of the public proof behind US audio advertising, not a test of whether it works. Audio is sold on attention and proven on counts. The certified podcast metrics count downloads, listeners and ad deliveries; most attribution products that name a method match IP addresses, households or pixels, which says how a match is made, not whether an ad caused a sale; and none of the attention, intrusiveness or in-game retention claims this review coded has independent support. In the two buyer surveys it could code, one Australian and one of unclear geography, measurement was the leading constraint on spend.*

Evgeny Popov · No Fluff Advisory · Research paper · September 2026 · Research cutoff 30 September 2026

## Abstract


*What US audio advertising is in 2026, who sells it, and how much weight the public evidence behind its pitch will bear. It audits published proof; it does not test whether audio advertising works. Research current to 30 September 2026, with the United States as the main market.*

> **In short.**
> Audio is sold on attention and proven on counts. Podcast measurement is certified on downloads, listeners and ad deliveries; none of its units measures listening time, attention or an outcome. Most attribution products that document a method match IP addresses, households or pixels, a narrow result that says how a match is made, not whether the estimate is causal; no product in the sample documents uncertainty in its results, in the pages opened. None of the public claims this review coded, that audio earns more attention, is less intrusive or leaves game players' retention unharmed, has independent support; the bar needs an independent funder, so a sound seller-run test still codes as insufficient. In the two buyer surveys that could be coded, one Australian and one of unclear geography, measurement is the leading class of constraint on spend and narrative leads neither; two surveys cannot speak for all US buyers. The largest publishers own the best-known programmatic rails, but on the registered count their rails are about a third of the audio supply integrations five DSPs name; that counts named relationships, not spend, so how much buying runs through owned rails is unresolved. On the Listen Quotient, which scores documented capability rather than performance, three sellers reach the top band, Most documented, and no ad-technology service does. 19 of the 24 seller bands are provisional, because filling their missing cells moves them, and 3 bands are provisional because a blind second scorer would move them.

### What a buyer can do with this

What a buyer can establish today is delivery. IAB Tech Lab's public record shows whether a seller's podcast counts are certified, for which units and when; a listing is current only within its 12-month term (chapter 4). Before spending more, ask the seller four things: the attribution method's matching unit and match rate, how much of the reported result is modelled, and its error range; who paid for any attention study and whether its score is modelled; for in-game audio, day-7 retention with the control group's rate and a confidence interval; and where the certified count covers the impressions being sold. What would justify more spend is a holdout test with a randomised control group, run on the buyer's own campaign with the design and results shared. Podscribe sells randomised holdouts as a priced option, and the AMP summary recommends holding out 5-10% of each platform's audience [1, 2].

### The question

Audio sellers pitch attention, intent and a format listeners do not skip. This paper asks what the public record shows behind that pitch. How big is US audio advertising, and by whose count? Who sells it, and who owns the pipes it runs through? What do the measurement standards certify? How is audio attributed to sales, and has anyone shown that it causes them? What stands behind the attention and in-game retention claims? What have AI voices and agentic buying changed? The paper covers broadcast and satellite radio, streaming audio, podcasts and audio inside games. Each channel keeps its own tables.

### How it was done

AI research agents worked from one brief in ten topic workstreams, a vendor-universe sweep, eight capability sweeps and eight vendor profiles. A second AI agent checked each file with orders to refute it. In all, 993 sources were opened and logged, and the research ledger holds 641 claims. The paper registered 6 starting claims and questions, with rules for what would count as support, before any research ran. The scoring rules and the product register were fixed before any cell was scored. An outside AI model, run by the author, spot-checked the evidence before scoring and reviewed the draft twice; every fact it raised was checked against its primary source first. A separate AI scorer then re-scored the 17 rows nearest a band line without seeing the first scores; it matched 72% of their cells exactly. An adjudication of the largest disagreements then corrected 10 first-pass cells against their sources (chapter 12). The paper scores 34 sellers and ad-technology services on 12 dimensions. The corrections ledger records each change made after the checks.

### What it found

1. **The market has several sizes, each counting something different.** IAB/PwC counts $8.4 billion of US internet audio advertising revenue in 2025, of which podcasts were $2,862.2 million, both reported by sellers. BIA forecasts, as reported by Radio Ink, $9.79 billion of local over-the-air radio for 2026. This review found no current public level estimate of total US radio advertising that includes national spot and network radio, in the sources screened.
2. **Broadcast shrank while podcasts grew.** iHeartMedia's podcast revenue rose 25.6% in 2025 to $563.7 million while its broadcast radio revenue fell 5.4%. No filing screened allows a market-wide concentration ratio.
3. **The standards define counting units only.** Guidelines v2.2 define four units: download, listener, ad delivered and client-confirmed ad play. Only four of the 34 companies on IAB Tech Lab's public record are certified for client-confirmed ad play. Eleven were last certified more than 12 months before the review, the recertification interval the Compliance Guide sets, and the public list shows no status. In the Media Rating Council's lists read on 28 September 2026, this review found no podcast or streaming-audio measurement service accredited by it.
4. **Attribution matches households, and no sampled product publishes the error.** IP, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 attribution products that document one, and in 11 of 19 once products that name no method are added: above half, but narrowly. The codes say how an exposure is linked to a sale, not whether the estimate is causal or reliable, and one product can document several designs: Podscribe also sells randomised holdouts [1]. Spotify Ad Analytics says its device graph generally matches 40% to 80% of the time. This review found no independent causal test of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes with published design and results, in the sources screened, which did not include a systematic academic database search.
5. **The attention and retention claims rest on insufficient evidence.** The most-cited audio attention study reports a modelled score equated to visual attention, from a study the sellers took part in. The strongest design found is Pandora's own randomised test, in which one extra ad per hour cut mean listening time by 2.082%. Every in-game retention claim found states no control, window or confidence interval, so none can show that players were not harmed. Insufficient evidence is not refutation, and the class is wide: it holds Pandora's randomised test, which fails only the independent-funder test, beside claims with no study behind them.
6. **The rails are owned, but not closed on the record.** Filings show SiriusXM owns AdsWizz, iHeartMedia owns Triton Digital and Spotify owns Megaphone. This review found no public term that gives an owner's inventory priority, and no published fee or take rate, in the sources screened. On the registered count, the three owners' rails are 15 of the 43 audio supply integrations five DSPs name (35%), which contradicts the ownership part of H5 as registered. That counts named relationships, not spend, so whether most buying runs through owned rails is unresolved.
7. **Agentic audio is protocol-ready, and the deal flow has barely started.** AdCP represents audio in its published schema. The one documented agentic audio buy found, a Butler/Till pilot with iHeartMedia worth just under $10,000, names no protocol in its release. Of the AI voice tools found, only SiriusXM Media's documents voice-actor opt-in and approval of each ad.
8. **Buyers say the gap is proof.** In the two buyer surveys with a stated base and period, one Australian and one of unclear geography, measurement is the leading class of constraint, and the narrative ranks third and fourth. Two surveys describe their own respondents, not US audio buyers as a whole. The author's playbook named the buyer narrative as the bottleneck.
9. **On the Listen Quotient, the leaders document more; that is not the same as performing better.** Among sellers the field score is 44; Acast, Spotify and SiriusXM Media reach the top band, Most documented. Among ad-technology services the field score is 58, and none does. Acast is the only seller with a current certification at the top counting-assurance anchor. Most radio groups have little public record on measurement, workflow or brand safety, and missing evidence is recorded as missing, never scored zero. 19 of the 24 seller bands are provisional. Scores are capped by the type of evidence, so a capability documented only by its vendor scores at most 4: a score reads as documented capability, discounted for its evidence.

### What would change these findings

Independent measurement of listening, rather than delivery, at scale. An accredited podcast audience measurement service. A published incrementality study of commercial audio with its design, control and results. A randomised in-game study reporting day-7 retention with its control rate and confidence interval. Chapter 13 sets out each registered claim, its verdict and the evidence that would move it.

### Limits

The paper scores what companies document in public; a private company can score low for saying little. Two buyer surveys could be coded; one was run with an audio seller and the other by a trade body that represents sellers. Several market figures were read through trade reporting. The vendor scores come from one AI-assisted scoring pass and a calibration pass; a blind AI second pass re-scored only the rows nearest a band line, and no human scored any cell. Status-sensitive facts were rechecked on 30 September 2026, the cutoff; the recheck found v2.3 of the podcast guidelines final and a few earlier items the record had missed, each logged in the corrections ledger. Every absence is bounded to the sources screened; no systematic academic database search was run. The research was AI-assisted. It is not peer reviewed or externally audited.

### How to read it

Chapters 1 to 11 cover the channels, market, sellers, counting, rails, attribution, attention, brand safety, in-game audio, AI and the rules. Chapter 12 scores the vendors, chapter 13 gives the verdicts and chapter 14 holds the method and ledgers. Each chapter opens with a short summary. In the web edition, the Skim control cuts the paper down to those summaries, the figures and the instruments.

> **Interests.**
> The author has worked at Samba since May 2025. Samba is a TV measurement and ad data company. Before that he worked at Verve Group, Hearts & Science and Lotame. He co-leads the Signals & Measurement working group of AgenticAdvertising.org, which publishes AdCP, a protocol discussed in chapter 10, and he co-filed its radio measurement-parity work. No Fluff Advisory, the author’s own practice, is a member of AgenticAdvertising.org, and two agents in its public registry, one for signals and one for sales, are registered under that membership; neither is an audio agent [3]. Triton Digital, scored in chapter 12, is one of the companies that launched AdCP [4]. Spotify, scored and profiled, lists Samba among the measurement companies it integrates with directly [5]. None of the author's current or former employers is scored. Membership of a standards body earns no score. No vendor funded, reviewed or saw the paper before publication. Every vendor is scored under the same published rules.



## 1. What counts as audio advertising

*Audio advertising here means paid ads heard on five channels, counted in each channel's own units. The paper scores two kinds of product and lists the rest.*

> **In short.**
> This paper covers paid ads delivered in audio on broadcast radio and its streams, satellite radio, streaming music and digital radio, podcasts and in-game audio. Each channel keeps its own market and measurement tables. IAB Tech Lab's podcast counting standard, guidelines v2.2, final since 2 May 2024, was still listed as current on 28 September 2026. Its section 6 defines four units: download, listener, ad delivered and client-confirmed ad play. None of them measures listening time, attention or an advertising outcome. Two cohorts are scored: audio inventory sellers and audio ad technology. Measurement vendors, demand-side platforms, creative tools and agencies are recorded without scores. Represented supply is counted once: SoundCloud's US inventory sits in the SiriusXM Media row, and YouTube audio will join it when live. Video podcast figures are context, because the main US podcast revenue series uses an audio-based definition.

A buyer who says "audio" can mean a radio spot, a Pandora break, a host read or a sound ad inside a mobile game. Each is sold and counted its own way. This chapter fixes what the paper includes, and how each item is recorded, before any number appears.

### Five channels, kept apart

The paper covers five channels. Broadcast radio includes the station's own online stream. Satellite radio means SiriusXM's subscription service. Streaming music and digital radio cover services such as Spotify, Pandora and online-only stations. Podcasts are episodes delivered as files or streams from a feed. In-game audio means audio ads placed inside games.

Each channel has its own counting system, so each keeps its own tables. Radio is sold on audience estimates. Nielsen Audio's people meter service is accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC), the US body that accredits audience measurement, for monthly and average quarter-hour estimates in 24 markets [6, 7]. Streaming audio has its own MRC standard of January 2018, built on an audible ad impression of at least two continuous seconds of unmuted play [8]. Podcasts are counted from server logs under guidelines from IAB Tech Lab, the standards arm of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). So an audience estimate, an impression and a download are different series. This paper never adds them together.

In-game audio is in scope by format. A package that also sells visual placements inside games is split, and a companion paper on gaming scores the visual part. This review found no published estimate of US in-game audio advertising spend in the sources screened by the cutoff: one web search whose results were screened by title and snippet and not opened, and the IAB/PwC report, which has no audio split for gaming [9].

### Four fields recorded apart

Every product is described in four separate fields. Device is where the ad is heard: smart speaker, phone, car or console. Content format is what surrounds it: music, talk, a podcast episode or a game. Delivery method is how it arrives: broadcast, satellite, stream or download. Commercial product is the thing the buyer signs for.

Vendors often merge these fields. A "smart speaker audience" names a device and says nothing about the content or the delivery. Devices are recorded but not scored; the channel breadth dimension scores channels only.

### Four fields for a podcast ad

A podcast ad is recorded in four further fields. Speaker role is host, announcer or other. Voice production is human, synthetic or mixed. Insertion is baked-in, meaning recorded into the episode file, or dynamic, meaning stitched in when the file is requested. Buying method is direct, programmatic guaranteed, private marketplace or open auction.

Prices and measurement are compared only within a matched combination of the four. A host read recorded into the file and bought direct is a different product from a synthetic voice ad inserted at request time and bought at auction. The fields also change what can be counted. Under guidelines v2.2, a dynamic ad counts as delivered only when 100% of its bytes are downloaded. A baked-in ad counts when the part of the file that holds it was downloaded [10]. Buying method limits where an ad can run. Megaphone's private marketplace deals, non-guaranteed auctions sold to demand-side platforms, can deliver only in shows enabled for the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) [11]. Chapter 10 covers synthetic voices, and chapter 11 the endorsement rules for host reads.

### The four counting units

IAB Tech Lab released guidelines v2.2 for public comment on 22 February 2024 and as final on 2 May 2024. On 28 September 2026 its guidelines page still listed v2.2 as current [12, 13, 14]. Section 6 defines four metrics [10].

A valid download delivers at least the file header plus one minute of content. A listener is a count of unique pairs of IP address and user agent in a stated time frame. The guideline itself says this proxy can double count when a device changes address and undercount when addresses are recycled [10]. An ad delivered follows the byte and position rules above, and only inside a valid parent download. A client-confirmed ad play needs a tracking beacon sent by the listening app. It should report ad start and quartile markers where possible. The guideline notes that aggregator apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify typically send no playback data to publishers, so podcast measurement rests on server logs [10].

Certification follows the same four units. On 28 September 2026 IAB Tech Lab's public record listed 34 companies certified against v2.2. Of those, 17 were certified for ad delivery and 4 for client-confirmed ad play [15]. On the registered test, H2 is supported. Guidelines v2.2 define four counting units; none measures listening time, attention or outcomes; certified scope on IAB Tech Lab's record covers counting only. Chapter 4 sets out that test.

Two version traps follow from this. Version 2.3 was open for comment from 21 July to 19 August 2026 and was released as final on 29 September 2026, the day after this review first read the guidelines pages. It keeps the same four metrics with reworded definitions [16, 17, 18, 19]. The Podcast Measurement Compliance Guide carries its own numbering. Its Version 2.3, of April 2024, implements guidelines v2.2 [20]. A reference to "version 2.3" can mean either document.

### Who is scored, and who is listed

The paper classifies each named service by what the buyer purchases. It reads the service description and the selling agreement, and ignores the company name and the word "exchange". Every decision sits in a product register of 83 products: 34 scored, 47 listed and 2 historical.

Cohort A is audio inventory sellers. A seller sells audio inventory it owns or represents under contract. Radio groups belong here whatever their digital share, and so do in-game audio sellers. Cohort B is audio ad technology: separately supplied hosting, insertion, ad-serving, exchange or supply-side platform services. Cohort A is scored on all 12 dimensions. Cohort B is scored on every dimension except creative, because these services do not make ad creative. The Listen Quotient, the paper's summary score of documented capability, places rows in bands within a cohort. It never ranks a seller against an ad-tech service. Chapter 12 gives the results.

Several calls follow from that rule. Spotify's 20-F, its annual report as a foreign issuer, defines SPAN as a podcast-only marketplace. Spotify sells music, podcast, video and display ads across its whole ad-supported service. So the seller row is named Spotify Advertising [21]. The filing describes the Spotify Ad Exchange as a marketplace for real-time bidding, announced on 1 April 2025, and Spotify's pages describe it as access to Spotify inventory through more than 40 demand-side platforms (DSPs). This paper infers from that record that the exchange is a buying route into the Spotify row [21, 22]. Megaphone, its hosting and insertion service for publishers, stays in cohort B [23]. AdsWizz and Triton Digital each document a publisher platform and a marketplace. The paper scores each as two cohort B rows. That split is an inference from their documentation, and it may count some of one company's capability twice [24, 25, 26]. A parent group's profile can describe its subsidiaries. It never pools their capabilities into one score.

A service whose role the record cannot settle is listed. TuneIn is one case: on the pages read, who sells its US inventory is unsettled [27, 28]. Announced and retired products are listed too.

Four kinds of company are recorded without scores. Measurement and attribution vendors go into a measurement table that records method, match level, match rate, certification, invalid-traffic filtering and validation. They include Edison Research at SSRS, Nielsen Audio, Podtrac, Podscribe, Spotify Ad Analytics, Claritas and Magellan AI. DSPs that buy audio are listed, among them The Trade Desk, Display & Video 360, Amazon DSP, StackAdapt and Viant. So are creative and voice tools such as AMA, Instreamatic and Veritone's AI products, and Oxford Road, an agency. None of them sells audio inventory or supplies insertion to publishers, so the seller and ad-tech anchors do not fit them. Two records are historical: Chartable, whose features Spotify said would be removed on 12 December 2024, and Veritone One, sold to Oxford Buyer, LLC on 17 October 2024 [29, 30, 31, 32]. A retirement and a sale show nothing about whether a method worked.

### Represented supply, counted once

Some inventory is sold by a company that does not own it. The paper counts it once, at the seller that represents it. SiriusXM Media is a trade name of Pandora Media, LLC. SiriusXM is SoundCloud's exclusive ad sales representative in the US and some European countries, and holds only an equity-method stake in SoundCloud [33, 34]. SoundCloud's US inventory therefore sits inside the SiriusXM Media row and has no row of its own.

YouTube's audio-first inventory is scheduled to follow. SiriusXM Media announced on 22 April 2026 that it would become YouTube's exclusive US audio advertising representative. On 28 September 2026 its FAQ still said buying would start in "Fall 2026". Google blocked new US-targeted audio campaigns in Display & Video 360 from 1 September 2026 and stops US auction-based audio serving on 5 November 2026 [35, 36, 37]. The inventory is listed as announced. If it goes live, it will be counted once, in the SiriusXM Media row, and never also as a Google row.

The same rule applies elsewhere. Westwood One stays inside the Cumulus row, because Cumulus reports one segment and its internal team sells the network inventory of 7,800+ affiliated stations [38]. LiveOne and Live365 inventory sits inside DAX US, Global's US digital audio business [39, 40, 41].

### Why video podcasts are context only

A video view and an audio download are different delivery units. This paper uses a video podcast figure only as context, unless the measured inventory is sold as audio. The main US revenue series supports that line. IAB/PwC put US podcast advertising revenue at $2,862.2 million in 2025, up 17.6%, on what the report calls "the traditional, audio-based definition" of a podcast [9].

Other counts mix in video. Owl & Co, in its own estimate as reported by Podcast News Daily, puts US podcast revenue at $6 billion in 2025, about 2.1 times the IAB/PwC figure. Its count adds consumer revenue, branded work and video, and it says video drives 41% of US net podcast advertising revenue. The wider scope is the likely reason for the gap, which is not broken down in public [42, 43]. Edison Research at SSRS's Infinite Dial 2026, released with support from SiriusXM Media, found that 58% of Americans aged 12 and over had consumed a podcast in the last month. Its podcast measure counts watching as well as listening [44].

The standards are moving toward video. Version 2.3 applies the four metrics to audio and video podcasts delivered through open feeds, and IAB Tech Lab plans a v3.0 for public comment in the middle of 2027 [18, 17, 45, 19]. Until a final standard counts video delivery, video figures appear in this paper as context next to the audio tables.



## 2. How big it is, and by whose count

*Five public series put a dollar figure on parts of US audio advertising. They count different things for different parts of the market, so none of them is the size of the whole, and they cannot be added together.*

> **In short.**
> IAB/PwC counts $8.4 billion of US internet audio advertising revenue in 2025. Podcasts were $2,862.2 million of it. Both are revenue reported by sellers. EMARKETER's 2026 forecast for US digital audio, read only third-hand, is $8.02 billion. That is below IAB/PwC's 2025 actual, although EMARKETER's definition is wider. For radio, the only current public level is BIA's local forecast: $9.79 billion over the air and $2.41 billion digital in 2026. This review found no current public level estimate of total US radio advertising that includes national spot and network radio, in the sources screened. It found no in-game audio estimate from an original market-research publisher in the sources screened. SiriusXM's filing gives $157 million for a segment that mixes satellite radio with its app. Podcast projections published by IAB missed in both directions.

Audio advertising in this paper covers broadcast radio and its streams, satellite radio, streaming music and digital radio, podcasts and in-game audio. Chapter 1 sets out those channels. This chapter asks how much money moves through them in the US, and whose figure says so.

![The published estimates measure different things, so none of them is the size of US audio advertising.](figures/fig-estimates.svg)

*Figure fig-estimates. **The published estimates measure different things, so none of them is the size of US audio advertising.** Each bar is one published figure for US audio advertising or a part of it, labelled with its publisher, metric and year. IAB/PwC counts seller revenue for internet audio; EMARKETER models advertiser spend for digital audio; BIA forecasts local radio only; Owl & Co counts all podcast revenue, not only advertising. Units: US$ billions. Scope: US; 2025 actuals and 2025 to 2026 forecasts as published by the cutoff. Sources [50], [9], [47], [42], [55]. Caveat: Not additive: the series overlap (podcasts sit inside internet audio; local digital radio overlaps streaming). Some values were read through trade reporting, as the estimates table records. Data: data/figure-data.json#estimates*

### The published series and what each counts

The longest-running series is the Internet Advertising Revenue Report. IAB, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, commissions it, and PwC conducts it. IAB is a trade body whose members include audio sellers. The report puts US internet audio advertising revenue at $8.4 billion in 2025, up 10.2% from $7.6 billion in 2024. That is 2.8% of $294.6 billion in total US internet advertising revenue. Its audio format covers podcasts, streaming music and streaming radio [9, 46]. The unit is what the report calls GAAP commissionable earned revenue, GAAP being US generally accepted accounting principles. It counts US-based revenue only. It is gross of traffic acquisition cost, or TAC, the share paid on to publishers, for companies that report on a gross basis. The report is built from a survey of companies plus an estimate for those that did not take part. PwC does not audit the figures [9, 46].

Inside that line, IAB/PwC puts US podcast advertising revenue at $2,862.2 million in 2025, up 17.6% from $2,433.1 million. It uses what the report calls "the traditional, audio-based definition" of a podcast [9]. Podcasts were therefore about 34% of internet audio revenue in 2025, against 32% in 2024. That leaves about $5.5 billion for streaming music, streaming radio and other online audio. The report publishes no line for that residual. This paper derives it, and it cannot be split further from public data [9]. Audio here is a format. A display or video ad sold by an audio company falls in another format line.

EMARKETER, a subscription research publisher, models advertiser spend. Its figures reached this review third-hand, because its own pages refused this project's tools: PPC Land reported them from a members-only deck by VAB, a video advertising trade body, circulated on 15 September 2026. On that route, EMARKETER's June 2026 forecasts put US digital audio services ad spending at $8.02 billion in 2026, rising to $9.79 billion in 2030. US audio podcast ad spending is $3.40 billion in 2026, 42% of digital audio, rising to $4.69 billion, or 48%, in 2030. The VAB slide's own callout says about 50% for 2030 [47, 48]. By 30 September EMARKETER's forecast pages carried a newer vintage, labelled August to September 2026, whose values are paywalled, so the June figures used here are superseded [49]. EMARKETER's digital audio definition includes broadcast stations' digital revenue, satellite radio services, pure-play and streaming music services and podcasts, in audio and non-audio ad formats. Whether it is gross or net could not be read.

BIA Advisory Services forecasts local advertising and sells the forecast by subscription. Its clients include local media. BIA's September 2026 release gives no radio lines; Radio Ink reported them. On that report, BIA puts US local over-the-air radio advertising at $9.79 billion in 2026, up 1.6% on 2025, and local digital radio at $2.41 billion, up 0.8%. Without political spending, over-the-air falls 1.3% to $9.49 billion and digital radio 2.1% to $2.34 billion. Radio is 6.5% of BIA's $186.1 billion local total for 2026 [50, 51]. National spot, network radio and national satellite sit outside a local forecast. BIA does not define "digital radio" in the release, and it calls the figures both revenue and spend.

Satellite radio has one public figure, and it belongs to one company. SiriusXM's 10-K for 2025 reports $157 million of advertising revenue in its SiriusXM segment, down 6% from $167 million. That segment covers satellite radio and the SiriusXM app together. Its Pandora and Off-platform segment reported $1,615 million, up 1%. That line covers audio, display and video ads on and off SiriusXM's own platforms, including podcasts, programmatic sales and technology fees. SiriusXM records advertising revenue net of agency fees and gross of revenue share [34]. So no pure satellite-radio advertising figure is published. The Pandora line is not an audio-inventory figure either. Chapter 3 takes up the sellers' own filings.

Owl & Co, an advisory and research firm, counts podcast revenue of every kind. As reported by Podcast News Daily, it puts US podcast revenue at $6 billion in 2025, up 27%. Its report tracks five revenue streams: direct advertising, programmatic advertising, consumer revenue, branded or work-for-hire revenue and other revenue. It counts video podcasts. It puts US video podcast revenue at $2.3 billion and says video drove 41% of US net podcast advertising revenue [42, 43]. Who paid for the report is not known. Only the trade report of it was read. Its $6 billion is about 2.1 times IAB/PwC's podcast line. The wider fence, with non-advertising revenue and video inside it, is the likely reason. That is an inference. The gap is not broken down in public.

### Why the figures do not reconcile

The series differ on six points. IAB/PwC and SiriusXM report seller revenue, while EMARKETER models advertiser spend. IAB/PwC counts gross of TAC where a company reports gross, SiriusXM counts net of agency fees, and EMARKETER's basis could not be read. IAB/PwC counts internet audio only, while BIA covers over-the-air radio. BIA counts local markets only. IAB/PwC counts audio-based podcasts, while Owl & Co adds video. And a format fence drops display and video sold by audio companies from IAB/PwC's audio line.

The largest gap on the record runs against those fences. EMARKETER's 2026 digital audio forecast, $8.02 billion, sits below IAB/PwC's 2025 actual of $8.4 billion, although EMARKETER's stated definition is wider. EMARKETER's 2026 podcast forecast, $3.40 billion, is 18.8% above IAB/PwC's 2025 podcast actual. That is more than twice the growth buyers told IAB to expect [9, 47, 52]. Possible reasons include the seller-revenue basis, EMARKETER's own gross or net convention, and podcast ads sold outside the companies PwC surveys. None is confirmed by the sources. The EMARKETER values are third-hand, so this comparison is an inference on unconfirmed inputs. PPC Land itself says the two series cannot be joined into one growth line [47].

The buyer growth figure is a third kind of number. In IAB's survey of more than 200 brand and agency decision-makers, released on 10 September 2026, US podcast ad spend is projected to grow 8.7% in 2026. That was 8.6% in January. It trails social media at 16.5%, connected TV at 15.6%, commerce media at 13.6% and digital video excluding connected TV at 9.4% [52, 53]. It is a buyer's intention, stated as a growth rate. It has no level and should not be applied to a seller-revenue level without saying so. Trade reporting adds +3.6% for digital audio excluding podcasts. IAB's release does not carry that figure [53].

Audience figures are a separate series again. Edison Research at SSRS released The Infinite Dial 2026 with support from SiriusXM Media, an audio seller. In a January 2026 survey of 2,050 people aged 12 and over, 58% of Americans aged 12+ had consumed a podcast in the last month, an estimated 167 million people. And 81%, or 233 million, had listened to online audio. Its podcast measure counts watching as well as listening [44]. That is reach, drawn from a survey. It measures neither revenue nor ad delivery. Chapter 4 keeps downloads, listeners and ad deliveries apart for the same reason.

Sellers also frame the market by time. IAB's October 2024 audio guide cites a 2021 WARC figure: 31% of media time spent with audio against 9% of media budgets. It also puts digital audio at 20% of US adult digital media time but 3.1% of 2023 digital ad revenue [54]. That is an advocacy frame from a trade body. A share of time is not a revenue denominator. On IAB/PwC's own chart, audio was 2.8% of internet revenue in 2025. Chapter 13 codes the constraints buyers report in the two surveys that could be coded.

**Market-size reconciliation**

| Estimate | Published | Metric | Value | Year | Geography | Includes | Excludes | Combinable with | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report | 2026-04 | US internet audio advertising revenue | $8.4B | 2025 | US; seller revenue (GAAP commissionable earned, gross of TAC where reported gross) | podcasts; streaming music; streaming radio (online audio environments) | over-the-air broadcast radio; satellite broadcast; display or video ads sold by audio companies (other formats) | Podcast line is inside it. Not additive with EMARKETER digital audio or BIA digital radio (overlapping fences). | [9] |
| IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report | 2026-04 | US podcast advertising revenue | $2.862B | 2025 | US; seller revenue | podcast advertising, audio-based definition | video-podcast advertising sold as video (per 'audio-based definition') | Subset of IAB/PwC audio. Not comparable in level with EMARKETER spend or Owl & Co total revenue. | [9] |
| IAB/PwC Podcast Ad Revenue Study FY2023 | 2024-05 | US podcast advertising revenue, projection | $2.379B | 2025 | US; net commissionable revenue, PwC Outlook growth | podcast publishers and ad networks | non-US revenue | Superseded by the FY2025 actual ($2.862B). | [55] |
| IAB 2026 Outlook Study (September update) | 2026-09-10 | US podcast ad spend growth, buyers' plans | +8.7% | 2026 | US; buyer survey, 200+ decision-makers | podcast ad spend as buyers plan it | seller revenue | A growth rate from buyers; never apply it to a seller-revenue level without saying so. | [52] |
| EMARKETER (via VAB via PPC Land) | 2026-06 | US digital audio services ad spending | $8.02B | 2026 | US; modelled advertiser spend | digital revenue of local and national broadcast radio stations; satellite radio services; pure-play online radio; streaming music; podcast advertising and sponsorship; audio and non-audio formats | over-the-air radio | Overlaps IAB/PwC audio and BIA digital radio; not additive. | [47] |
| EMARKETER (via VAB via PPC Land) | 2026-06 | US audio podcast ad spending | $3.40B | 2026 | US; modelled advertiser spend | audio advertising within a podcast |  | Subset of EMARKETER digital audio (42%). | [47] |
| BIA U.S. Local Advertising Forecast (via Radio Ink) | 2026-09-14 | US local over-the-air radio advertising | $9.79B | 2026 | US local markets | local over-the-air radio incl. political | national spot; network radio; satellite | Only over-the-air line found; add national/network from another source only if its fence is disclosed. | [50] |
| BIA U.S. Local Advertising Forecast (via Radio Ink) | 2026-09-14 | US local digital radio advertising | $2.41B | 2026 | US local markets | local digital radio incl. political | national | Overlaps IAB/PwC streaming radio and EMARKETER digital audio; not additive. | [50] |
| SiriusXM Form 10-K | 2026-02-05 | SiriusXM segment advertising revenue (satellite radio and SiriusXM app) | $157M | 2025 | US; company revenue, net of agency fees | ads aired on satellite radio and SiriusXM streaming | Pandora and Off-platform | One company; not a market estimate. | [34] |
| Owl & Co Global Podcast Economy (via Podcast News Daily) | 2026-05-20 | US podcast revenue, all streams | $6.0B | 2025 | US; revenue | direct and programmatic advertising; consumer revenue; branded/work-for-hire; other; video podcasts |  | Not comparable with IAB/PwC podcast advertising; different fence. | [42] |
| Gadsme (reported by GamesBeat) | 2022-09-08 | 'audio ads market' value (definition not given) | about $200 million | 2022 | worldwide | not stated | not stated | no | [62] |
| Gadsme (reported by GamesBeat) | 2022-09-08 | additional in-game audio ads value | $50 million | 2026 | worldwide | not stated | not stated | no | [62] |
| eMarketer (quoted in IAB release) | 2024-03-26 | ad spend in games, all formats (context; not audio) | $8.53 billion | 2024 | not stated in release (IAB US context) | all ad formats in games | not stated | no | [63] |
| eMarketer (quoted in IAB release) | 2024-03-26 | ad spend in games, all formats (context; not audio) | $11.49 billion | 2027 | not stated in release (IAB US context) | all ad formats in games | not stated | no | [63] |

### Actuals against forecasts

IAB's standalone podcast revenue study was last found as its FY2023 edition, published in May 2024. That study compiled "net commissionable advertising revenue" from podcast publishers and networks. The Internet Advertising Revenue Report's survey definitions apply to the report as a whole and are not restated for its podcast line. Both documents show 2023 at $1,925.2 million [55, 9, 56]. This review found no FY2024 or FY2025 standalone edition in IAB's own catalogue, as searched on 28 September 2026. IAB's September 2026 Podcast Upfront recap gave no revenue figure [57].

The projections in that May 2024 study missed. They were not IAB's or respondents' forecasts. They applied PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook growth rates to the 2023 base. They put 2024 at $2,164.7 million and 2025 at $2,379.0 million. Actuals came in 12.4% and 20.3% above them. The study's 2026 projection, $2,562.1 million, is already below the 2025 actual. The next miss ran the other way. In October 2025 an IAB staff member said 2025 would top $3 billion. That was at least 4.8% above the $2,862.2 million actual [55, 9, 58]. The October figure was a staff statement reported in trade press.

BIA's radio lines moved between vintages in ways the public record does not explain. As Radio Ink reported, BIA's April 2026 vintage had 2026 local over-the-air radio at $10.08 billion. It stated that as +1.8% from $9.91 billion in 2025, though the two levels give +1.7%. Digital radio was $2.38 billion, up 5.0%. The September vintage has over-the-air at $9.79 billion, up 1.6%. That implies a 2025 base near $9.64 billion. Radio Ink headlined the September vintage as a lift to radio's outlook, although its over-the-air level is lower [59, 50]. Radio Ink's April report said BIA had changed its method that cycle to break out digital out-of-home. Neither article nor BIA's releases tie that change to the radio lines. A BIA restatement of its 2025 base would explain the gap, but none is documented in public.

### What no public source sizes

This review found no current public level estimate of total US radio advertising that includes national spot and network radio, in the sources screened by 28 September 2026. BIA's forecast is local only. EMARKETER's radio forecast could not be opened. PwC's Global Entertainment & Media Outlook sits behind a subscription and was not opened. An Omnicom Media spokesperson confirmed in January 2026 that Magna's December 2025 posting was the last of Interpublic's public ad forecasts [60, 51, 48, 9]. WPP Media's June 2026 global midyear release describes audio as plateauing within global content-driven advertising. It gives no audio figure. In the pages read, neither agency group supplies a public 2026 US audio figure. WPP Media's US-specific edition was not screened [61, 60].

One growth rate reaches beyond local radio. The IAB/PwC report quotes PwC's Outlook as showing advertising revenue in its "Music, radio and podcast" segment up 1.3% in 2025. By PwC's segment definition, that advertising covers radio stations and networks, podcast advertising and live-music sponsorship. The page gives no level and does not state the geography [9]. A first reading took it for a mix of consumer and advertising spending; the verifier showed it sits on a chart of advertising revenues. If the figure is for the US and its podcast part grew near IAB/PwC's 17.6%, the rest of the segment, radio and live-music sponsorship, grew by less than 1.3%. That is this paper's inference. The source does not state it.

Satellite radio has no market estimate in the sources screened. The SiriusXM segment line above is one company's revenue, and it mixes satellite broadcast with the company's streaming app [34].

In-game audio has no estimate from an original market-research publisher. This review searched for one from IAB/PwC, EMARKETER, Magna, WPP Media, Newzoo and Circana, and found none in the sources screened by the cutoff. The only figure found is a vendor's belief. In September 2022 Gadsme, which sells in-game ads, told GamesBeat that audio ads are worth about $200 million worldwide and that in-game audio "can be an additional $50m in 2026". It gave no definition or method [62]. An EMARKETER projection quoted by IAB in March 2024 has ad spend in games rising from $8.53 billion in 2024 to $11.49 billion by 2027, with no audio breakout [63]. The IAB/PwC report defines a gaming format and reports gaming advertising growth, also with no audio split. The market-size stream's own search was one web search, whose results were screened by title and snippet and not opened [9]. Chapter 9 covers in-game audio as a format.

### Using the figures

Each series answers one question. IAB/PwC gives what US companies reported as internet audio and podcast ad revenue in a finished year. EMARKETER gives modelled advertiser spend on digital audio, read here only third-hand. BIA gives the local radio forecast. SiriusXM's filing gives one company's advertising revenue. Owl & Co gives podcasting's revenue from every source, video included.

The overlaps block any total. Podcasts sit inside IAB/PwC's internet audio. BIA's local digital radio overlaps IAB/PwC's streaming radio and EMARKETER's digital audio. EMARKETER's digital audio includes satellite radio services that SiriusXM's segment also covers. Adding BIA's over-the-air line to IAB/PwC's internet line would mix a local forecast with a national actual counted as seller revenue. It would still leave out national spot, network radio and satellite. A single US audio advertising figure would need all of those fences on one basis. This review did not find one in the sources screened by the cutoff.



## 3. Who sells it


*Audio advertising is sold by radio groups, streaming services, podcast networks and a few in-app sellers, and each reports it on its own basis. The filings show which lines grew and which shrank in 2025. They cannot show how concentrated the market is.*

> **In short.**
> In 2025, broadcast revenue fell at each of the five radio groups filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that report a broadcast line, while iHeartMedia's podcast line and the three listed podcast sellers grew. iHeartMedia's podcast revenue rose 25.6% to USD 563.7 million and its broadcast radio revenue fell 5.4%. Spotify's global Ad-Supported revenue fell 1% to EUR 1,836 million, a figure that includes display and video. Only iHeartMedia and Audioboom disclose a podcast figure that can be set against the IAB/PwC US total, at about 19.7% and 2.6%, on different definitions. No market-wide concentration ratio can be built from the filings screened. Audacy emerged from Chapter 11 on 30 September 2024. Cumulus's plan was confirmed on 15 April 2026, and this review found no emergence by 29 September 2026. No source screened ties a restructuring or exit to the failure of an audio format.

This chapter names the sellers from their own filings and annual reports. A seller's revenue is not advertiser spend. Some sellers book gross, some net, and some lines include display, video or barter. Each figure below carries the issuer's own definition, and none is added to another.

### What the filings report

Spotify reports annually on Form 20-F and files interim results on Form 6-K. In 2025 its Ad-Supported segment took EUR 1,836 million, down 1% from EUR 1,854 million, or 11% of total revenue. Direct music channels and podcast ad sales fell EUR 116 million, on lower fixed CPMs (prices per thousand impressions) and fewer music impressions sold. Automated channels rose EUR 103 million [21]. The figure is global and covers display and video as well as audio. From 2026 Spotify moved some activities from Ad-Supported to Premium and restated prior periods. On that basis Ad-Supported revenue was EUR 831 million in the first half of 2026, down 2%, which Spotify attributes mainly to foreign exchange [64].

Sirius XM Holdings reported 2025 advertising revenue of USD 1,772 million. The SiriusXM segment took USD 157 million, down 6%. Pandora and Off-platform took USD 1,615 million, up 1%, on podcasts, programmatic and higher technology fees, partly offset by weaker demand in streaming music [34]. That line includes display, video and the technology fees of AdsWizz. SiriusXM books advertising gross of revenue-share payments to third parties and net of agency fees, so the line includes money later paid to represented publishers and creators [34]. Pandora's ad-supported listener hours, counted from bytes served whether or not anyone hears the whole track, fell 2% to 9.75 billion. Pandora's advertising revenue per thousand listener hours, which excludes off-platform revenue, fell 9% to USD 91.78 [34, 65].

In 2025 iHeartMedia's Broadcast Radio revenue fell 5.4% to USD 1,633.4 million. Podcast revenue rose 25.6% to USD 563.7 million, from USD 448.8 million [66]. Non-cash trade and barter revenue rose to USD 381.3 million from USD 261.8 million. The 10-K ties that increase to Digital excluding Podcast and to the Multiplatform group, and attributes podcast growth mainly to advertiser demand. It does not say how much trade sits inside podcast revenue [66]. In the first half of 2026, podcast revenue rose 23.5% to USD 309.3 million. Broadcast Radio rose 3.1%, and the issuer attributes that rise to non-cash trade, partly offset by lower spot revenue [67].

The other radio groups that file with the SEC reported falls. Cumulus Media's 2025 net revenue fell 10.3% to USD 741.7 million, with broadcast radio at USD 474.5 million, down 15.9% by this review's arithmetic. Cumulus says its digital decline came largely from "the loss of certain podcast relationships" [38]. Urban One's radio advertising revenue fell 14.6% to USD 150.0 million. Radio and Reach Media made up 45% of its net revenue, against 42% for cable television [68]. Beasley's audio revenue, which counts aired spots including trade, fell 19.2% to USD 156.5 million [69]. Townsquare's broadcast advertising net revenue fell 12.6% to USD 183.4 million [70]. The issuers note that 2024 was a political year, so part of each fall is cyclical.

Three listed podcast sellers report on other bases. Audioboom Group plc reported 2025 revenue of USD 80.4 million, up 10%, of which USD 74.2 million, or 92%, came from US customers. It books revenue gross, as principal [71]. Acast's net sales were SEK 2,516.9 million (Swedish kronor), up 29%. Its North America segment took SEK 964.2 million, up 60%. Customers located in the US accounted for 34.8% of net sales [72, 73]. PodcastOne, majority-owned by LiveOne, reported USD 61.7 million for the year to 31 March 2026, up 18%, with USD 3.0 million of the growth from barter [74].

![Broadcast lines shrank in 2025 while podcast lines grew; no filing gives a market total to share them against.](figures/fig-seller-lines.svg)

*Figure fig-seller-lines. **Broadcast lines shrank in 2025 while podcast lines grew; no filing gives a market total to share them against.** Fiscal 2025 audio revenue lines in US dollars, as each company reports them, with the change on the prior year. iHeartMedia's podcast line grew 25.6% while its broadcast line fell 5.4%; Cumulus's broadcast line fell 15.9%. Units: US$ millions. Scope: US-reporting companies with a separable audio line; fiscal 2025. Sources [66], [34], [38], [70], [69], [68], [71], [74]. Caveat: Company definitions differ (net or gross, trade included or not). Lines are shown side by side, never summed or shared against a market total. Data: data/figure-data.json#seller_lines*

### Concentration, and the missing denominator

The IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report put 2025 US podcast advertising revenue at USD 2,862.2 million, up 17.6%, on what it calls the traditional, audio-based definition of a podcast [9]. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is a trade body whose members include audio sellers, and it commissions PwC to compile the figure. Against it, iHeartMedia's 2025 podcast revenue equals about 19.7%, and Audioboom's revenue from US customers about 2.6% [66, 71, 75]. Neither ratio is a market share. iHeartMedia does not state that its podcast figure is US-only or audio-only. Audioboom's is by customer location, which may differ from where the ads were heard.

The other large sellers give no figure that fits. Spotify reports Ad-Supported revenue globally, with display and video included. SiriusXM does not split podcast revenue out of Pandora and Off-platform. Cumulus folds podcasts into digital. Acast reports a North America segment and the share of net sales from US-located customers (34.8% in 2025), but not US audio advertising revenue, so neither figure matches a US podcast advertising denominator. PodcastOne's year ends in March. Audacy and Salem no longer file periodic reports [21, 34, 38, 76, 77]. This review found no public basis, in the filings screened by the cutoff (which did not include Amazon's segment disclosure), for a market-wide concentration ratio in US audio or podcast advertising. Adding sellers' revenues would also count some dollars twice, because SiriusXM, Audioboom and PodcastOne book gross, including amounts passed to creators and publishers.

### Restructurings and exits, by type of event

An insolvency, a debt exchange, a product retirement, a divestiture and an acquisition are different events. None of them shows that a format failed unless a source establishes the cause.

Audacy is a completed insolvency. Its prepackaged plan, agreed with creditors before filing, took effect and the company emerged from Chapter 11 on 30 September 2024. Pre-petition debt holders received the new common equity and existing shares were cancelled. It filed a Form 15 the next day to stop SEC reporting, and continues as a private company [76, 78].

Cumulus is an insolvency still in progress. Nasdaq suspended its Class A stock on 2 May 2025 [38]. On 4 March 2026 Cumulus and substantially all its subsidiaries filed prepackaged Chapter 11 petitions in the Southern District of Texas, and the court confirmed the plan on 15 April 2026. The plan gives secured 2029 creditors 95% of the new equity, before dilution from a management incentive plan, and cancels existing shares. The reorganised company does not intend to list or keep reporting to the SEC [79, 80, 81]. Confirmation is not emergence. The plan takes effect only after approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other conditions. The FCC granted the licence transfers to the post-reorganisation shareholders on 17 August 2026, according to its own public notice [82]. The debtors have extended the emergence deadline to 27 October 2026, the latest date their restructuring agreement allows [81, 83]. This review found no filing, release or notice of the plan's effective date in the sources screened by 30 September 2026 [84, 85, 86]. Emergence was pending at the time of writing.

Two groups restructured debt out of court. Urban One refinanced substantially all its debt on 18 December 2025 through an exchange offer and new notes [68]. On 1 May 2026 Beasley's holders exchanged about USD 184.1 million of 2028 second-lien notes for USD 98.5 million of 2027 payment-in-kind notes. Beasley says their conversion into equity may result in a change of control [87, 88]. At the end of September it sold shares and warrants to one institutional investor and, with the sale of two radio stations, set the proceeds to pay down its revolving loan and redeem about $11.4 million of first-lien notes [89]. PodcastOne and MediaCo each report substantial doubt about continuing as a going concern [74, 90]. Salem Media Group left SEC reporting in February 2024 and on 20 August 2026 announced completion of its acquisition by The Christian Community Foundation, Inc., d/b/a WaterStone [91, 77].

Chartable is a product retirement. Spotify, which bought it in 2022 [92], announced its closure on 27 September 2024 and stopped onboarding at once. It said features would be removed on 12 December 2024, and that SmartLinks and SmartPromos would move into Megaphone. Both sources predate 12 December and describe a plan [29, 30]. The stated reason was a re-focus. No source screened establishes that podcast attribution failed.

Veritone One is a divestiture. Veritone sold the agency to Oxford Buyer, LLC, an affiliate of Insignia Capital Group, on 17 October 2024, for up to USD 104.0 million. Veritone One and Oxford Road then said they would combine [31, 32]. Veritone One was an agency on the buying side, so the sale did not change seller supply (inference).

TuneIn and Edison changed owners by acquisition. Stingray Group completed its purchase of TuneIn on 19 December 2025, for up to USD 175 million. It valued TuneIn on TuneIn's own forecast of USD 110 million revenue for 2025, a figure not split between advertising and subscriptions [93, 94]. SSRS announced on 15 October 2025 that it had acquired Edison Research, which now publishes as Edison Research at SSRS. The release gives no terms or closing date [95].

### Where listening happens

Edison's Podcast Consumer 2026 found that 37% of US weekly podcast consumers use YouTube most often for podcasts, up from 31% in 2024. YouTube already led Spotify in Edison's October 2024 data, 31% to 27%, so the 2026 figure shows a wider lead [96]. The 2026 figure reached this review through Inside Radio, a trade outlet owned by Cumulus Media. Spotify's and Apple Podcasts' 2026 shares were not confirmed in a source this review opened. The measure records the service a listener uses most and carries no ad revenue.

Edison's network ranking comes closer to the seller question. In the first quarter of 2026 it ranked Spotify first among US podcast networks by average weekly reach, then the SiriusXM Podcast Network, iHeartPodcasts and Red Seat Ventures. It credits each show to the network that represents its advertising, from 5,163 weekly podcast consumers aged 13 and over recalling the shows they listened to or watched [97]. It measures reach by ad-sales representation and includes no revenue. Edison sells its podcast metrics to the networks it ranks, so its independence is unknown. A download count gives a different leader: iHeartMedia calls itself the number one podcast publisher according to Podtrac, with 167 million global monthly downloads and streams in 2025 [66].

For radio, a buyer survey published by Cumulus set perception against Edison's Share of Ear. In Edison's first-quarter 2025 US data for people aged 18 and over, AM/FM radio took 68% of ad-supported audio listening, and ad-supported Pandora and Spotify about 5% each. The 303 agencies and marketers surveyed in August 2024 put AM/FM at 27% [98]. The company that published the comparison sells AM/FM radio.

### Represented supply, and who is scored

This paper records represented supply once, at the seller that holds the mandate to sell it.

SiriusXM is SoundCloud's exclusive ad sales representative in the US, while holding only an equity-method stake in SoundCloud, so SoundCloud's US inventory sits in the SiriusXM Media row [34, 33]. On 22 April 2026 SiriusXM Media announced that it would become YouTube's exclusive audio advertising representative in the US [36]. On 28 September 2026 its FAQ still said buying would start in "Fall 2026". Google's help page says US YouTube audio campaigns must be set up through SiriusXM from 1 September 2026, and that US auction-based audio serving stops from 5 November 2026 [35, 37]. This is a transfer of US sales to an exclusive representative, not a retirement of the inventory. Delivery through SiriusXM was not confirmed by the freeze, so the inventory is listed as announced and is not scored.

Other mandates sit with radio groups and representatives. Audacy has been the exclusive US sales representative for Sonos Radio's streaming inventory since 10 February 2026 [99]. iHeartMedia's Katz Media represents more than 3,400 radio stations that iHeartMedia does not own, in a separate segment outside the scored iHeartMedia row [66]. Cumulus's internal sales team sells Westwood One, so its more than 7,800 affiliated stations stay in the Cumulus row [38]. DAX US, a business created by Global, represents LiveOne and Live365 among other publishers [27, 41]. Its sellers.json file marks an "Odeeo US" record as DAX US, from which this review infers that Odeeo's US in-game audio could be counted twice [100]. DAX US calls Cox Media Group an exclusive publisher, yet Cox sells digital audio in its own name through AdsWizz and SoundStack [101, 102, 103]. The Global pages that name TuneIn as DAX-represented face the UK, and no source establishes a current US mandate, so TuneIn is listed and not scored [104, 105].

Spotify's filing defines the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) as a podcast-only marketplace of its own and exclusive shows, publishers hosted on Megaphone and creators on Spotify for Creators [21]. The paper's seller row is therefore Spotify Advertising, and the Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) is treated as a buying route into it. Megaphone's help pages say private marketplace deals booked through SAX deliver only in SPAN-enabled shows. That classification is an inference, and it would change if Spotify offered SAX to other publishers [11].

Three sellers also own programmatic rails: SiriusXM owns AdsWizz and Simplecast, iHeartMedia owns Triton Digital, and Spotify owns Megaphone [34, 66, 21]. Chapter 5 tests whether that ownership affects access or price.

The product register holds 83 products. Chapter 12 scores 24 as audio inventory sellers (cohort A) and 10 as audio ad technology (cohort B). Another 47 are listed without a score, and 2 are historical: Chartable and Veritone One. A parent group never pools its subsidiaries into one score. AdsWizz and Triton each appear as two cohort B rows, a publisher platform and a marketplace, an analytical split inferred from their documentation. The vendor universe below gives 73 entries, with owner, formats, routes and status.

**Vendor universe**

| Company / product | Legal entity / owner | HQ | Scope group | Formats | Buying routes | Main geographies | Status at cutoff | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify Advertising (SPAN, Spotify Ad Exchange, Spotify Ads Manager) | Spotify Technology S.A. | Luxembourg (registered); Stockholm (operations) | digital | streaming music; podcasts (owned, exclusive, Megaphone and Spotify for Creators supply via SPAN); video and display | direct IO; self-serve; programmatic via Spotify Ad Exchange (40+ DSPs; PMP, PG, open auction video) | global; US via Spotify USA Inc. | live | [21, 22, 158] |
| Megaphone | Spotify Technology S.A. |  | adtech | podcast hosting; dynamic ad insertion | publisher licence; optional SPAN monetisation | US (data controller Spotify USA Inc.) and other markets | live | [21, 23] |
| Spotify Ad Analytics | Spotify Technology S.A. |  | measurement | attribution and brand-lift reporting; Spotify Pixel | free to advertisers | global | live | [470] |
| SiriusXM Media (Pandora, SiriusXM, SiriusXM Podcast Network; represents SoundCloud in the US) | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | US | radio | satellite radio; streaming music (Pandora); podcasts; represented SoundCloud | direct; AudioGO self-serve; programmatic | US | live | [34, 33] |
| AdsWizz publisher platform (AudioServe, Ad Insertion Suite, AudioMax SSP) | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | US | adtech | ad serving; dynamic insertion; SSP | publisher licence | global | live | [34, 24] |
| AdsWizz Audio Marketplace (AdWave Marketplace, incl. PodWave) | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | US | adtech | exchange for streaming and podcast inventory | advertiser and DSP buying; publishers join by Sales Order | North America, EMEA, APAC | live | [24, 25] |
| AdsWizz AudioMatic | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | US | listed | audio DSP | direct, PMP, PG, open auction | global | live | [469] |
| AudioGO (AdsWizz) | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | US | listed | self-serve audio buying for small advertisers (Pandora, Audiomack, Univision and other networks) | self-serve | US | live | [471] |
| Simplecast | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (through AdsWizz) | US | adtech | podcast hosting and analytics; resold AdsWizz monetisation tools | publisher licence | US | live | [34, 25] |
| SoundCloud (US inventory) | SoundCloud Holdings, LLC (SiriusXM holds an equity-method stake) |  | listed | streaming music | sold in the US by SiriusXM Media (exclusive representative) | US | live | [34] |
| YouTube audio-first inventory through SiriusXM Media | Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.) | US | listed | YouTube and YouTube Music audio-first placements | SiriusXM Media buys (exclusive US representative) | US | announced (scheduled Fall 2026; not observably live at 28 Sep 2026) | [35, 36] |
| YouTube audio ads through Google Ads and Display & Video 360 (US targeting) | Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.) | US | listed | YouTube audio ads | Google Ads; DV360 | US | retiring: no new US campaigns from 1 Sep 2026; existing ones serve through 4 Nov 2026; US auction-based serving ends 5 Nov 2026 | [37] |
| iHeartMedia (broadcast, iHeartRadio, iHeartPodcasts) | iHeartMedia, Inc. | US | radio | broadcast radio (860+ stations, ~160 markets); streaming; podcasts | direct IO; programmatic | US | live | [66, 378, 28] |
| Triton Ad Platform (TAP) | iHeartMedia, Inc. |  | adtech | ad server; server-side insertion for live, on-demand and podcast audio | publisher licence | global | live | [66, 26] |
| Triton Audio Marketplace (formerly a2x) | iHeartMedia, Inc. |  | adtech | open audio exchange (broadcast, podcast, streaming) | buyer agreement with Ando Media, LLC d.b.a. Triton Digital; DSP integrations | global | live | [66, 153, 140] |
| Spreaker | iHeartMedia, Inc. (Spreaker Inc.; part of Triton Digital) |  | adtech | podcast hosting; dynamic insertion; monetisation (Prime / Premium Podcast Marketplace) | creator and publisher sign-up | global | live | [66, 472, 473] |
| Omny Studio | iHeartMedia, Inc. |  | adtech | enterprise podcast hosting (audio and video); insertion through TAP | publisher licence | global | live | [66, 474] |
| Jelli | iHeartMedia, Inc. (Triton Digital) |  | listed | programmatic buying and ad serving for over-the-air radio | broadcaster and advertiser platform | US | unconfirmed: Triton says the RCS Zetta connection replaces it | [475] |
| Sounder (Triton Digital) | iHeartMedia, Inc. |  | listed | transcript-based brand safety, suitability and topic targeting for podcasts | licence | global | live | [476] |
| Amazon Ads audio (Amazon Music, Alexa, Wondery and Art19-hosted shows) | Amazon.com, Inc. | US | digital | streaming music; smart-speaker audio; podcasts; third-party publishers | direct IO; Amazon DSP | US | live | [477, 194, 478, 479] |
| Art19 | Amazon.com, Inc. |  | adtech | podcast hosting; dynamic insertion | publisher licence |  | live | [478] |
| Audacy | Audacy, Inc. (private) | US | radio | broadcast radio; streaming; podcasts | direct IO | US | live | [480, 153] |
| Cumulus Media (incl. Westwood One, Cumulus Podcast Network) | Cumulus Media Inc. (in Chapter 11; emergence not filed at 28 Sep 2026) | US | radio | broadcast radio (393 O&O stations, 84 markets); network radio (7,800+ affiliates); podcasts; streaming ad network | internal sales team; direct IO | US | live | [38, 84] |
| Urban One radio (Radio One, Reach Media) | Urban One, Inc. | US | radio | broadcast radio (76 stations, 13 markets); syndication | direct | US | live | [68] |
| Acast podcast advertising network (Acast marketplace; Acast Ad Platform) | Acast AB (publ) | Stockholm, Sweden | digital | podcasts (140,000+ shows); host reads; dynamic ads; video podcasts | direct; self-serve Ad Platform; programmatic PG and private auction | global; US via Acast Stories Inc | live | [73, 481] |
| Audioboom advertising (Showcase and marketplace) | Audioboom Group plc |  | digital | podcasts; host reads; dynamic insertion | direct; self-serve portal | global; mostly US | live | [196] |
| Libsyn Ads | Liberated Syndication Inc. (private) | US | digital | podcasts (host reads) | marketplace and full-service | US | live | [482, 483, 484] |
| Libsyn hosting | Liberated Syndication Inc. (private) | US | listed | podcast hosting; monetisation | creator subscription | US | live | [483] |
| PodcastOne | PodcastOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: PODC), majority-owned by LiveOne, Inc. | US | digital | podcasts (host reads, DAI, programmatic); LaunchpadOne hosting | direct; programmatic | US | live | [74] |
| LiveOne / Slacker streaming (US inventory) | LiveOne, Inc. | US | listed | streaming radio | sold through DAX US | US | live | [27, 41] |
| National Public Media sponsorship | NPR | US | radio | public radio sponsorship; NPR podcasts; NPR digital | direct | US | live | [485] |
| TuneIn | Stingray Group Inc. |  | listed | streaming radio aggregator; podcasts | US inventory represented by DAX US (national) and iHeartMedia (local, since 2021) | US | live | [27, 28] |
| DAX US | Global (Global Media & Entertainment) | New York, US | digital | streaming audio; podcasts; live sports streams; mobile games | direct; programmatic (incl. Basis for political) | US | live | [27, 39, 40, 41] |
| Captivate | Global (acquired 20 Dec 2021) | Sheffield, UK | listed | podcast hosting; dynamic ads | creator subscription | global | live | [486] |
| Audiomob | AUDIOMOB LTD (owner not established) | London, UK | ingame | audio ads in mobile apps, including games | SDK; OpenRTB; direct | global; US unconfirmed | live | [487] |
| Odeeo | Sonic Odeeo Ltd. (independent, venture-backed; Global an investor) | Herzliya, Israel | ingame | audio ads in mobile games, with banner or icon companion | SDK; programmatic partners (Walmart DSP named) | global; US via partners (vendor assertion) | live | [310, 488] |
| Gadsme audio | Gadsme (owner not established) |  | listed | in-game audio as one of four formats | SDK; PMP; curated deals | global | unconfirmed as a separately sold service | [318, 317] |
| Targetspot | Azerion |  | listed | digital audio sales across podcasts, streaming, radio, mobile gaming | own ad tech; SSP and DSP partners | global; US unconfirmed | live | [317, 321] |
| SoundStack | SoundStack, Inc. (independent) | US | adtech | streaming infrastructure; podcast/streaming analytics; links to SSPs and ad servers | publisher licence | US | live | [489] |
| Townsquare Media (incl. Townsquare Ignite) | Townsquare Media, Inc. | US | radio | broadcast radio (340 stations, 74 markets); programmatic digital advertising | direct; own programmatic platform | US | live | [70] |
| Saga Communications | Saga Communications, Inc. | US | radio | broadcast radio (82 FM, 30 AM; 28 markets) | direct | US | live | [490] |
| Beasley Broadcast Group | Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. | US | radio | broadcast radio; digital; events | direct | US | live | [69] |
| Mediaco (WQHT, WBLS, Estrella radio) | Mediaco Holding Inc. | US | radio | broadcast radio (New York; Estrella's 11 stations in LA, Houston, Dallas); TV | direct | US | live | [491] |
| Salem Media Group (incl. Salem Podcast Network) | Salem Media Group, Inc. (OTC; SEC-deregistered Feb 2024) | US | radio | broadcast radio; podcasts; digital | direct | US | live | [492, 493, 77] |
| Hubbard Radio (incl. Gamut Podcast Network) | Hubbard Radio, LLC (ultimate owner not established) | US | radio | broadcast radio; streaming; podcasts | direct | US | live | [494] |
| Bonneville International | Bonneville International (ultimate owner not established) | US | radio | broadcast radio; podcasts; TV | direct | US (five western markets) | live | [495] |
| TelevisaUnivision audio (Uforia; ViX Música) | TelevisaUnivision | US | radio | Spanish-language broadcast radio (40 stations); streaming; podcasts | direct; also offered through AudioGO | US | live | [496, 497, 471] |
| Podbean Ads Marketplace | Podbean (entity not established) |  | listed | podcasts | self-serve marketplace (from $200) | global; US unconfirmed | live | [498] |
| Podbean PodAds | Podbean (entity not established) |  | listed | podcast dynamic insertion (own ads, VAST tags) | creator subscription | global | live | [498] |
| RedCircle | RedCircle Technologies, Inc. | US | listed | podcast host endorsements; hosting | fully managed | US | live | [499] |
| Audiomack | not established |  | listed | streaming music and podcasts | offered through AudioGO | US | live | [471] |
| AdTonos | AdTonos (entity not established) |  | listed | audio exchange and self-serve platform (radio streams, podcasts, apps) | self-serve; programmatic | global; US unconfirmed | live | [500] |
| The Trade Desk | The Trade Desk, Inc. | US | listed | DSP (audio) | programmatic | US | live | [22] |
| Display & Video 360 | Alphabet Inc. | US | listed | DSP (audio) | programmatic | US | live | [22, 37] |
| Amazon DSP | Amazon.com, Inc. | US | listed | DSP (audio, incl. podcasts) | programmatic | US and other markets | live | [158, 194] |
| Yahoo DSP | Yahoo | US | listed | DSP | programmatic | US | live | [22] |
| Adform | Adform |  | listed | DSP | programmatic | global | live | [22] |
| Basis | Basis | US | listed | DSP | programmatic | US | live | [41] |
| Walmart DSP | Walmart | US | listed | DSP | programmatic | US | live | [310] |
| Magnite | Magnite, Inc. | US | listed | SSP | programmatic | global | live | [22] |
| Podscribe | not established | US | measurement | podcast and audio attribution and verification | licence | US | live | [216] |
| Magellan AI | Twenty Nine Enterprises, Inc. | US | measurement | ad intelligence; pixel, broadcast-radio and pod-to-pod attribution; incremental lift | licence | US and other markets | live | [501] |
| Podtrac | Podtrac, Inc. | US | measurement | podcast audience measurement and rankings | licence | US | live | [502] |
| Claritas podcast attribution | Claritas, LLC | US | measurement | identity-graph podcast attribution | licence | US | live | [503] |
| Barometer | not established |  | listed | podcast brand safety | integration |  | unconfirmed (site not reachable by this review) | [481] |
| AMA (A Million Ads) | A Million Ads Inc. (owner not established) |  | listed | dynamic audio creative | managed service and platform | global | live | [504] |
| Oxford Road | Insignia Capital affiliate (per round-1 check) | US | listed | podcast advertising agency | agency | US | live | [505] |
| Cox Media Group radio | Cox Media Group, LLC (majority Apollo-managed funds) | Atlanta, US | radio | broadcast radio, streams, podcasts | direct; programmatic via SoundStack and AdsWizz | US (9 markets) | live | [506, 507, 508] |
| AmperWave | Audacy (to be confirmed) | US | listed | audio ad serving and streaming | publisher platform | US | live | [509, 510] |
| Katz Media Group | iHeartMedia | New York, US | listed | national spot radio representation | direct | US | live | [66] |
| Sigma Audio Networks | eMedia (to be confirmed) | US | listed | national radio sales | direct | US | live | [450, 511] |
| Deseret Digital Media (KSL audio) | Deseret Management Corporation | Salt Lake City, US | listed | streaming audio, podcasts | direct | US | live | [512] |
| Spreaker Premium Podcast Marketplace | iHeartMedia | US | listed | host-read podcast sponsorships | direct | unconfirmed | live | [472] |



## 4. Counting, not listening


*The podcast guidelines that buyers rely on count files and ads delivered to devices. This chapter tests what they certify and sets them beside what the US accreditor of audience measurement has accredited for audio.*

> **In short.**
> IAB Tech Lab's podcast guidelines v2.2, final since 2 May 2024, define four counting units: download, listener, ad delivered and client-confirmed ad play. None measures listening time, attention or outcomes, and the certified scope on IAB Tech Lab's record covers counting only, so H2 is supported. Version 2.3 became final on 29 September 2026 and keeps the same four units, so H2 holds on the final text too. On 28 September 2026 the public record listed 34 companies under v2.2, and only four were certified for client-confirmed ad play. Eleven of the 34 were last certified more than 12 months earlier, the recertification term in IAB Tech Lab's Compliance Guide, and the public list shows no status. In the Media Rating Council's lists, this review found no accredited podcast or streaming-audio measurement service. Reporting attributed declines in reported downloads to Apple's iOS 17 change, and none of it measures listening.

H2 tests a line on the author's standards page: a download is not a listen. It asks whether any metric in the final guideline text, or in any certified company's certified scope, measures listening time, attention or an outcome. The records were read on 28 and 29 September 2026.

### What the guidelines count

IAB Tech Lab is the technical standards body of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the digital advertising trade association. Its Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines v2.2 went to public comment on 22 February 2024 and were released as final on 2 May 2024 [12, 13, 14]. Section 6 defines four metrics. A download counts content delivery. A listener counts audience. Ad delivered and client-confirmed ad play count ads. Section 6.4 defines no new metric; it rolls them up by publisher, show and episode and covers audience building from listener IDs [10].

A dynamically inserted ad counts as delivered only when all of its bytes are downloaded. A baked-in ad, recorded into the episode file, counts when the part of the file that holds it was downloaded. Either way the parent download must be valid: the file header plus at least one minute of content [10]. A listener is a unique pair of IP address and user agent, the string that names the app and device, within a stated time frame. The text says this can double count a device whose IP address changes and undercount when IP addresses are recycled [10].

Client-confirmed ad play needs a tracking beacon sent by the player, and should report the ad's start and quartile markers "whenever possible". The guideline says aggregator apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify typically do not send playback data, so podcast measurement rests on server logs [10]. Providers may report further metrics if they label them apart from the four core ones [10].

The only attention language in v2.2 is a sentence in its executive summary saying podcast audiences "remain attentive even during ads". No metric stands behind it [10]. Chapter 7 audits claims of this kind. This review codes quartile markers as counting of ad playback. Read as a listening-time measure, they would still be optional, and aggregator apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify typically do not send them.

### Three documents numbered 2.x

Guidelines v2.3 went to public comment on 21 July 2026, with comment open until 19 August 2026. On 28 September 2026 neither the v2.3 page nor the guidelines page showed a final text. On 29 September IAB Tech Lab released v2.3 as final, and it now plans a v3.0 for public comment in the middle of 2027 [16, 17, 14, 106, 45]. The final text keeps the four metrics with reworded definitions and applies them to audio and video podcasts delivered through open RSS feeds. It also sets a tolerance of ±5% for discrepancies between certified measurers [18, 19]. H2 was re-tested on the final text at the freeze recheck and holds. On 30 September every listing on the public record was still certified against v2.2 [15].

The Podcast Measurement Compliance Guide has its own numbering. Its Version 2.3, dated April 2024, implements guidelines v2.2 [20, 14]. Certification is voluntary and global, run by IAB-approved third-party auditors in an iterative process of about 60 days that the guide calls "generally not a pass or fail". A certified company must recertify at least every 12 months or its status changes to expired [20].

### Who is certified, and for which counts

On 28 September 2026 IAB Tech Lab's public compliance record listed 34 companies, all certified against guidelines v2.2. Of those, 33 were certified for download and 33 for listener. Seventeen held ad delivery. Four held client-confirmed ad play: ART19, Audiomeans, Audion and SoundStack [15]. The record states scope as a guideline version and a list of metrics per company, and names no product, inventory, environment or geography. One report, issued to Sirius XM Holdings and dated 30 April 2025, serves both the AdsWizz listing for ad delivery and the Simplecast listing for download and listener [15, 107].

Certification does not mean every control is met. The reports for Triton Digital (28 February 2025) and SiriusXM (30 April 2025) mark domain threat filtering "Not Supported". Podtrac's report (10 July 2026) marks ad delivered and client-confirmed ad play "Not Applicable" [108, 107, 109].

A certified vendor can also sell counts outside its certification. Podscribe's certification covers its prefix-based download counting. Its own documentation says its pixel impressions for dynamically inserted ads are a separate count that "can include more than one count per download" [110, 111]. Its home page calls it "the only 3rd-party, IAB-Certified attribution provider", while the certifier's record covers download and listener counting and the guideline defines no attribution metric [112, 15]. A buyer has to check which count a report uses and whose certification stands behind it.

### How current the certifications are

The Compliance Guide sets the 12-month term and allows "some flexibility" case by case. It defines three statuses, Active, Expired and Suspended, and keeps suspended versions listed with their certified date [20]. The public page has no status column. Eleven of its 34 listings show a last-certified date more than 12 months before 28 September 2026: AdsWizz, Captivate, CoHost, Omny Studio, PRX, Podigee, Simplecast, Spreaker, Triton Digital, Voxnest Audience Network and Zeno Media [15, 20]. Whether any of the eleven is active cannot be settled from the page, and this paper describes none of them as lapsed. Since suspended listings stay on the page, appearing there does not establish active status for any of the 34.

![Eleven of the 34 listings were last certified more than a year before the cutoff, and the public list does not say which are current.](figures/fig-certification-age.svg)

*Figure fig-certification-age. **Eleven of the 34 listings were last certified more than a year before the cutoff, and the public list does not say which are current.** Each bar is one company on IAB Tech Lab's public podcast measurement compliance list, all under guidelines v2.2, with its last-certified date. The Compliance Guide asks for recertification every 12 months; the public page has no status column. Units: months (days / 30.44). Scope: IAB Tech Lab podcast compliance list as read on 28 and 29 September 2026. Sources [15], [20]. Caveat: A date older than 12 months does not prove a lapse: the Guide allows case-by-case flexibility, and status may be held outside the public page. Data: data/figure-data.json#certification*

Review round 2 clarified the scoring rule for these listings (R2-02). On the counting-assurance dimension, a listing counts as current only within the 12-month term. A listing past the term with no status shown is read as "no longer current, status not shown" and scored at anchor 3. It scores 0 only if the record itself shows Expired or Suspended. The SiriusXM group's two listings, last certified on 15 May 2025, fall under that rule [15, 20]. Chapter 12 applies it.

### Server delivery and client playback

The Media Rating Council (MRC) is the US industry body that accredits audience measurement services. Its Digital Audio Measurement Standards v1.0 of January 2018, written with the IAB and radio industry bodies, set a different bar. They cover streaming and progressive-download audio. They define a client-side Audible Ad Impression: player not muted, volume above zero, at least two continuous seconds. They call server log files generally not acceptable, and not acceptable for measuring activity in progressive-download environments. Log-based counts such as downloads are allowed where client-side measurement is precluded, as in offline podcast listening. Over-the-air AM/FM and subscription satellite radio are excluded [8].

This review's reading is that the two texts agree on counting a download from a server log when playback cannot be observed. They part on streamed or progressively downloaded episodes, which the IAB guideline counts from server logs and the MRC text treats as unacceptable for measuring activity.

v2.2 treats URL-prefix measurement, used by Podtrac, Podscribe and similar services, as distinct from full server-log measurement. A prefix records the request but cannot see how many bytes were served, so the method must be separately proven to meet the guidelines [10]. Podtrac, which does not report plays, says in its 2024 methodology, a vendor document, that players supporting ad-play pingbacks carry under 10% of podcast traffic, with no base or period stated [113].

### Invalid traffic

v2.2 splits invalid traffic (IVT) into general invalid traffic (GIVT), such as crawlers, known data centres and pre-fetching, and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT). It publishes no SIVT filtering rules and says its filtering "will catch most general IVT and some of the more obvious sophisticated IVT" [10]. The text does not require the IAB/ABC Spiders and Bots List, a paid subscription at $5,000 a year for IAB members and $15,000 for others [10, 114]. For Podscribe's pixel impressions, this review found no filtering description in the sources screened [110, 111].

### What the MRC has accredited for audio

In the MRC's lists for radio, digital, multimedia, services outside the US and services under review, read on 28 September 2026, this review found no accredited or in-process podcast or streaming-audio measurement service. The one audio-related entry under review is Adelaide's AU attention metric, listed as "Pre-audit reviewed 5/2026, Audit not begun", which gives no assurance [115, 116, 117].

Broadcast radio has accreditation, within limits. MRC accreditation of the Nielsen Audio PPM (Portable People Meter) service covers monthly and AQH (average quarter-hour) estimates in 24 named markets, under a letter of 20 November 2024 updated on 18 September 2026. The MRC lists 22 other PPM markets as under review, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC [6, 7]. The accreditation does not extend to streaming, podcasts or minute-level data. Nielsen's Audio Diary service, previously accredited, entered a six-month accreditation hiatus effective 23 June 2026. During the hiatus the MRC treats it as unaudited and unaccredited, and Nielsen has committed to resume audit by its end [118, 7].

Triton Digital, owned by iHeartMedia, left the process for streaming. In a blog post dated 20 April 2022, read through a Wayback Machine capture of 4 June 2023, it said it was moving its Webcast Metrics away from MRC accreditation. It said that accreditation "is not provided outside of the U.S. and does not include podcast measurement", and that it was undergoing a SOC 2 controls audit instead [119, 117]. The podcast reason is Triton's framing: the MRC's 2018 standard covers podcasting, and what the record lacks is an accredited podcast service. This review did not check whether a SOC 2 report exists.

### iOS 17 changed downloads

Apple changed automatic downloads in iOS 17, released on 18 September 2023 according to Podnews; Apple's notice is dated 11 October 2023. Automatic downloads pause when a device runs out of storage or when a followed show has not been played for more than 15 days. On resuming, Apple Podcasts no longer downloads the unplayed back catalogue [120, 121]. The notice is the platform's own documentation.

Reporting first published in February 2024 tied download declines to the change. In a Podnews table of ten publishers from Triton Digital's US Podcast Ranker, combined average weekly downloads in January 2024 were 32.4% below January 2023, or 34.7% leaving out one publisher with no January 2023 figure. Podtrac data suggested an average 15% drop for most large shows. National Public Media reported about 10% for daily shows and about 30% for other cadences [121, 122]. These are publisher totals, which also move when portfolios change. They measure downloads. By inference, fewer automatic downloads of unplayed episodes would lower the count with no change in listening; the sources do not measure listening before and after.

v2.2 had already urged players not to download back catalogues by default. This review found no guideline addendum on iOS 17 in the IAB Tech Lab sources screened by 28 September 2026, and the final v2.3 text does not mention it [10, 19].

### Cross-publisher reach

The guidelines count per measurer, so cross-publisher reach comes from other methods. Edison Podcast Metrics, from Edison Research at SSRS, estimates the weekly reach of US podcast shows and networks from surveys of weekly podcast consumers aged 13 and over: 5,163 interviews in Q1 2026 and 5,006 in Q2 2026. Reach is a share of weekly podcast consumers and includes shows watched as video. The same company separately sells download counts run on SoundStack's certified system [123, 124, 125, 126].

Nielsen announced Nielsen Podcast Fusion, powered by Edison Research, in its Nielsen Media Impact planning tool on 6 August 2025. On 27 April 2026 it announced that Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ would join the same tool. Neither release describes a validation or an accreditation [127, 128]. This review infers that cross-publisher podcast planning is consolidating in one tool fed by a survey and one company's download data. It found no accredited single-source measure of cross-publisher podcast reach and frequency in the sources screened by the cutoff.

### AMP and the 30-second play

The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP) was convened by Oxford Road, a podcast advertising agency, in July 2025. It was announced publicly on 29 May 2026 as a task force of "12 voting member parties", and the release named two Spotify staff among "Select AMP members" [129]. On 28 September 2026 AMP's website said the Accords were "Ratified by twelve operators" but showed nine voting-member logos and fifteen endorsement logos, and Spotify appeared in neither group. The Accords sit behind a form asking for personal data, which this review did not fill in. The site claims no accreditation [130]. This paper does not call Spotify a signatory and makes no membership claim beyond what the dated pages show.

Oxford Road's own summary of 23 July 2026 says the Accords define a podcast play as at least 30 consecutive seconds of consumption and an ad impression as any portion of an ad airing. They recommend a randomised hold-out of 5% to 10% of each platform's audience to measure incrementality [2]. The Accords are voluntary, and this review found no platform's implementation or audit of them. A play measured by consumption needs playback data that, by the IAB guideline's own account, most aggregator apps do not send.

### What the H2 verdict rests on

H2: supported. Guidelines v2.2 define four counting units; none measures listening time, attention or outcomes; certified scope on IAB Tech Lab's record covers counting only. Version 2.3, final from 29 September 2026, keeps the same four units [10, 15, 19]. The certification reports this review opened cover a minority of the listings; the rest are read from the table. A verdict on what certification covers says nothing about whether the counts are accurate. A final guideline that defined a listening or outcome metric would change it, and so would an accredited, listen-level measure of podcast or streaming audio. Chapter 6 takes up outcome measurement.



## 5. Rails, supply paths and prices


*Three audio groups own programmatic audio rails that buyers' platforms name as supply sources. This chapter tests what that ownership amounts to in the buyers' own documentation, in published access terms and in published prices, and keeps the three tests apart.*

> **In short.**
> Filings establish that SiriusXM owns AdsWizz and Simplecast, iHeartMedia owns Triton Digital, and Spotify owns Megaphone and runs the Spotify Ad Exchange. On the registered pooled count, those groups' rails are 15 of 43 named audio supply integrations in the documentation of five demand-side platforms (DSPs), or 35%, so H5's ownership part is contradicted. Leaving out The Trade Desk's directory gives 9 of 17 (53%), a sensitivity test only. Access is unresolved. No public term gives an owner's inventory priority, and Megaphone's private marketplace (PMP) deals deliver only in shows enabled for Spotify's own podcast ad network (SPAN). The owned rails' sellers.json files list rival sellers, including iHeartMedia on AdsWizz and AdsWizz itself on Triton. Pricing is unresolved: this review found no published fee or take rate for AdsWizz, Triton Digital, Spotify Ad Exchange or Megaphone. The VAST 4.1 ad-serving template absorbed its audio variant, DAAST, in 2018, yet Triton's 2026 bid-request page lists only VAST 2.0, VAST 3.0 and DAAST 1.0 as the protocols it always sends, though its example request adds VAST 4.0.

A rail is the technology a programmatic bid passes through on its way to audio inventory: an ad server, a supply-side platform (SSP, which offers a publisher's inventory to automated buyers), an exchange, or a podcast hosting and insertion service. Buyers reach rails through DSPs, the software agencies and advertisers use to bid. H5 says programmatic audio runs on rails owned by the largest audio publishers. The test registered before extraction splits it into ownership, access and pricing, each with its own rule. Ownership alone never settles price or access.

### Who owns which rail

Every named rail's owner can be read from a filing. Sirius XM Holdings' fiscal 2025 Form 10-K, filed 5 February 2026, says AdsWizz is its subsidiary, that Pandora and third-party customers use AdsWizz technology, and that AdsWizz offers podcast hosting, analytics and advertising sales through Simplecast [34]. iHeartMedia's fiscal 2025 10-K, filed 2 March 2026, lists Triton Digital among the ad technology companies it acquired and calls Triton's marketplace "an innovative global open audio exchange" [66]. "Open" there is the issuer's own word, not a published access term. Spotify's fiscal 2025 Form 20-F, filed 10 February 2026, says Spotify announced the Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) on 1 April 2025 for real-time auction buying. It says SPAN sells enterprise publishers' podcasts "via Megaphone", under agreements that mostly share revenue and can include minimum guarantees [21]. Spotify's fiscal 2020 20-F records that it bought 100% of Megaphone LLC on 8 December 2020 for EUR 195 million [131]. The first condition of H5's ownership part is met.

### The registered count

The second condition asks whether those rails make up more than half of the audio supply integrations named in the public documentation of five DSPs: The Trade Desk, Google's Display & Video 360 (DV360), Amazon DSP, StackAdapt and Viant. The count is of named integrations. It says nothing about spend or volume.

![On the registered pooled count, the three owners' rails are about a third of the named integrations, not the majority.](figures/fig-rails.svg)

*Figure fig-rails. **On the registered pooled count, the three owners' rails are about a third of the named integrations, not the majority.** Named audio supply integrations in the public documentation of five DSPs, split by whether SiriusXM (AdsWizz), iHeartMedia (Triton Digital) or Spotify owns them. The pooled row is the registered test of H5's ownership part; the row without The Trade Desk's directory is a sensitivity test only. Units: count of named integrations. Scope: The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, StackAdapt and Viant documentation, 2021 to 2026, observed 28 September 2026. Sources [132], [134], [135], [136], [137], [138], [139]. Caveat: Counts of named integrations, not of spend. The Trade Desk's directory mixes publishers and rails. Data: data/figure-data.json#h5*

DV360's help page names nine supported audio exchanges, three of them owned rails [132]. The Trade Desk's partner directory, filtered to inventory and audio, lists 26 entries worldwide. Six belong to the three groups: three publishers (Pandora, iHeart Media, Spreaker) and three rails (AdsWizz, Triton Digital, Spotify). Of the 26, 18 carry an Americas tag, including all six; there is no separate US tag [133, 134]. Amazon's 6 July 2026 release names three SSPs, one from each group, in a list introduced by "including" [135]. StackAdapt's announcements name Magnite and iHeartMedia [136, 137]. Viant names Magnite, AdsWizz and Triton Digital [138, 139].

Pooled across the five, the owned rails are 15 of 43 named integrations, or 35%. Under the registered rule, half or fewer contradicts the ownership part. Leaving out The Trade Desk's directory, which mixes publishers and rails, gives 9 of 17, or 53%. That is a sensitivity test, because the registered rule does not provide for dropping one DSP's documentation. The stream verifier tried two treatments that keep all five DSPs. Limiting the directory to Americas-tagged entries gives 15 of 35 (43%). Counting only its entries that are clearly exchanges or SSPs, the verifier's own classification, gives about 48% [134]. Only removing a whole DSP lifts the share above half. Confidence is still low. The five documents differ in kind, Amazon's list is explicitly partial, and Amazon's own group also sells audio (chapter 3).

### Access in the published terms

H5's access part is supported only by documented terms that give an owner an advantage, and contradicted only by documented open-access terms that show none. The public record holds some terms, but not the ones that would settle the question.

Triton's public buyer terms for its programmatic marketplace (formerly "a2x") let each publisher exclude any buyer "at any time for any reason or no reason". They warn that the highest bid may not always win, because sellers can set bidding terms. They contain no fee, no take rate and no clause giving iHeartMedia's inventory priority [140]. These seller controls apply to every participating publisher. The buying agreement behind the terms and the publisher-side terms are not public.

Megaphone's help page, updated 15 July 2026, describes its PMP deals, auctions open only to invited buyers. They are non-guaranteed and clear at first price. At launch they reach The Trade Desk, DV360, Yahoo, Amazon and more than 40 DSPs under Magnite's SSP. They run after guaranteed campaigns, then "compete alongside the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) in an auction" on highest gross bid above a publisher's floor. They "can only deliver in shows that are Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) enabled" [11, 141]. That condition ties a Megaphone publisher's PMP access to enrolment in the owner's network. The page states no priority rule for SPAN demand, and the service terms a publisher must accept were not public in the sources screened.

### Access in practice

A sellers.json file is a rail's public list of the sellers it is authorised to sell for. An ads.txt file is a publisher's public list of the rails authorised to sell its inventory. On 28 September 2026, AdsWizz's sellers.json held 641 entries, Triton Digital's 485 and Spotify's 634, and no file marked any seller confidential [101, 142, 143]. AdsWizz lists iHeartMedia, Audacy, Cumulus, Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn, PodcastOne, NPR and TuneIn. Triton lists AdsWizz Inc, Audacy, Cumulus, Urban One, Salem, Audioboom, Libsyn, PodcastOne, TuneIn and DAX. Spotify's lists Westwood One, Audioboom and Libsyn.

The two largest owned rails also sit in each other's files. AdsWizz's sellers.json lists Triton Digital as an intermediary, and the iheart.com ads.txt file authorises 16 AdsWizz lines among about 580 records [101, 144]. The web ads.txt files of six sellers outside the three groups (Audacy, PodcastOne, Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn, TuneIn) each authorise both AdsWizz and Triton Digital [145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150]. Pandora's own sellers.json carries a malformed key on its Pandora entry, so a strict parser would read no seller type for it [151].

These files record authorisation. They do not record volume, priority or price, and entries can be stale. They cover web domains, while DV360's help says most audio inventory sits in mobile apps, where its ads.txt setting cannot be used [132]. The files show the owned rails carrying rival inventory. They say nothing about the terms. Access stays unresolved.

### Deal types by route

The documents name three programmatic transaction types: open auction, PMP, and programmatic guaranteed (PG, a fixed-price deal with reserved delivery). Each route offers a different mix. DV360 sends open-auction audio through Google Ad Manager and reaches the other exchanges through deals [132].

Triton's DSP-integrations page names 41 partners for its Triton Audio Marketplace. Not all are DSPs: Magnite is an SSP and Tara Media Strategies an agency. The count is kept apart from the "60+ DSP Integrations" heading on Triton's marketing page [152, 153]. The page labels The Trade Desk and Amazon DSP for open auction and PMP, and DV360, StackAdapt and Viant for PMP only. Triton's 2023 specification calls marketplace inventory not guaranteed, while its 2026 bid-request page carries a deal flag for guaranteed inventory [154, 155]. Triton Digital told AdExchanger in December 2025 that PG deals on iHeartMedia's broadcast radio inventory carry the same priority as direct-sold deals [156].

Amazon DSP's February 2024 US podcast launch covered only Amazon-owned and Amazon-related supply on non-guaranteed delivery [157]. The 6 July 2026 release opened self-service buying across publishers and SSPs "including" Spotify Ad Exchange, SiriusXM Media/AdsWizz and iHeart Media/Triton, with PMP and PG deals for podcasts and streaming audio. The page calls the launch global and lists 34 countries, the United States among them [135]. Spotify's own article on the direct Amazon DSP link is narrower. Podcasts are sold through PMP deals; the newly added PG and open auction apply to music inventory [158].

### Spotify Ad Exchange as a buying route

SAX has an exchange's name, but its record describes a way into Spotify-owned and SPAN-enabled inventory. Spotify's SAX page offers "Spotify inventory" through the buyer's DSP, "across over 40 DSPs" [22]. Spotify's October 2025 release says Megaphone-hosted publishers would book PMP deals via SAX from 2026 [141], and Megaphone limits those deals to SPAN-enabled shows [11]. This review found no Spotify or Megaphone page, in the sources screened by the cutoff, that offers or licenses SAX to publishers outside Megaphone and SPAN [159].

After review round 2 (R2-11), the paper treats SAX as a buying route into the Spotify Advertising row, where the inventory it clears is counted once. The publisher-side PMP function is scored on the Megaphone row, where it is documented. That classification is an inference, and it would change if Spotify offered SAX to other publishers. Spotify's sellers.json lists Westwood One, Audioboom and Libsyn [143], and no source opened says which route carries that inventory. In the H5 count SAX stays a Spotify-owned rail, because DSPs name it as a supply source.

### Standards the rails declare

VAST, the Video Ad Serving Template, tells a player which ad file to fetch and what to report. IAB Tech Lab's VAST 4.1, released in November 2018, merged the Digital Audio Ad Serving Template (DAAST), a 2014 spin-off of VAST 3.0, back into VAST [160]. OpenRTB, the protocol DSPs and SSPs use to exchange bids, defines an Audio object in version 2.6 that "generally assumes compliance with the VAST standard". The AdCOM 1.0 list of creative subtypes still carries DAAST 1.0 codes beside VAST 4.1 to 4.3 [161, 162].

Triton is the one owned rail whose documentation states a protocol version. Its 2023 DSP specification says OpenRTB 2.5. Its bid-request page, updated 26 March 2026, says some attributes also follow 2.6. It lists the audio protocols sent as always VAST 2.0, VAST 3.0 and DAAST 1.0 with their wrappers, with no VAST 4.x, yet its own example request adds VAST 4.0 [154, 155]. The same page gives the auction type as second price plus, while Triton's publisher help describes first-price open-marketplace auctions [163]. No AdsWizz or Spotify page opened states an OpenRTB audio version [164, 22].

### What is published about price

H5's pricing part needs documented fees, take rates or price differences by rail. This review found none for AdsWizz, Triton Digital, Spotify Ad Exchange or Megaphone in the sources screened by the cutoff [21, 165]. The nearest disclosures for those four carry no rate. Spotify's 20-F says most publisher agreements share revenue. AdsWizz says publishers can "apply different prices for each sales channel or deal". Triton publishes a default open-marketplace floor of $1.00 and mentions per-segment data fees without rates [163, 166]. Simplecast's monetisation page gives a 70/30 revenue share, 70% to podcasters, through the AdsWizz Podcast Marketplace [167]. One payout split on one owned service, with no independent rail's split beside it, cannot show an owner advantage.

Buyer-facing prices are thinner. This paper compares podcast prices only within matched combinations of four fields: speaker role, voice production, insertion and buying method. Libsyn Ads' table of 23 September 2026 gives CPM (price per thousand) ranges of $24–26 for 60-second and $18–22 for 30-second baked-in host reads, $18–22 for dynamically inserted new-episode ads, $14–16 for dynamic back-catalogue ads and $12–15 for programmatic pre-produced ads [168, 169]. These are list ranges set by the seller. Voice production is not stated, and Libsyn's pages define the unit two ways: downloads in the first 30 days, or downloads or impressions. Libsyn's reported average of $21.37 for a 60-second ad in September 2024, from its own sales data, states no speaker role, insertion or buying method, so it fits no matched combination [170].

This review found no second seller publishing prices for the same matched combination in the sources screened. Spotify's Ads Manager page says ads are sold by auction at "no fixed cost" and states no minimum or CPM [171]. DV360 says audio CPMs are "significantly higher" than display rates, without a number [132]. Pricing stays unresolved.

### Where H5 stands

The ownership part is contradicted on the registered pooled count: the three owners' rails are 15 of 43 named audio supply integrations in five DSPs' documentation (35%); leaving out The Trade Desk's directory gives 9 of 17 (53%), a sensitivity test only. Access is unresolved: no public term gives an owner's inventory priority, and Megaphone PMP deals deliver only in SPAN-enabled shows. Pricing is unresolved: no published fee or take rate for AdsWizz, Triton Digital, Spotify Ad Exchange or Megaphone. Ownership alone never settles price or access. Chapter 13 sets these results beside the other verdicts, and chapter 14 explains why AdsWizz and Triton each appear as two rows in the ad technology cohort.



## 6. Attribution and proof

*Most attribution products in this paper's named sample link an ad to a later website visit through an IP address, a household match or a pixel. This review found no independent causal test of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes with published design and results, in the sources screened by the cutoff.*

> **In short.**
> In a named sample of 23 attribution products, IP-address, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 products that document one (91.7%), and in 11 of 19 when products without a documented method are added (57.9%), so H3 is supported, narrowly. The match is to a household IP address, and Spotify Ad Analytics and Podscribe model part of the unmatched remainder. Spotify Ad Analytics says its device graph generally matches 40-80% of the time; Podscribe says residential IPs carry about 50-60% of impressions. No product in the sample documents confidence intervals or any other uncertainty measure in the pages opened. Lift products mostly compare exposed listeners with a matched or synthetic control, and Podscribe sells randomised holdouts as a priced option through SmartServe, its ad-serving layer. This review found three academic randomised experiments with non-commercial radio messages and no independent causal test of commercial audio on advertiser outcomes, in the sources screened by the cutoff. The largest randomised audio experiment found was run by Pandora and measures what ads cost in listening time.

The author's standards page says that most podcast attribution is modelled. This chapter tests that claim and the registered hypothesis H3 behind it. Attribution here means crediting an ad with a later action, such as a site visit or a purchase. Proof means evidence that the ad caused the action.

![IP, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 products that document one, but the result is narrow once undocumented and mixed products are counted.](figures/fig-attribution-methods.svg)

*Figure fig-attribution-methods. **IP, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 products that document one, but the result is narrow once undocumented and mixed products are counted.** Each product in the registered H3 sample, coded by the primary attribution method its own documentation names. The sample, rebuilt in review round 3, is every measurement-table product with an attribution function plus every scored row whose documentation describes one, each counted once; a partner’s method is never imported into a row. Under the registered rule H3 is supported, narrowly: treating the two oldest supporting pages as undocumented and recoding Claritas as an identity graph would together make it unresolved. Units: products. Scope: named, dated sample as documented at 28 to 29 September 2026. Sources [176], [177], [207], [178], [174], [179], [180], [175], [181], [182], [513], [183], [184], [185], [186], [514], [187], [190], [188], [454], [515], [189], [193], [194], [195], [74], [196], [197], [198]. Caveat: A count of products, not of campaigns or spend. It says nothing about accuracy; none of the coded products documents uncertainty reporting. Data: data/figure-data.json#h3*

### The sample and the count

H3 was registered on 28 September 2026, before extraction. It says that in a named, dated sample, more than half of the products with a documented primary method name IP-address matching, household matching or a pixel. The verdict must hold again when products with no documented method are added to the denominator. The sample is every product in the paper's measurement table plus every scored seller or ad-technology row whose documentation describes an attribution function. Coding follows what vendors document as of 28 and 29 September 2026. It does not show which method buyers use most.

The first coding had two errors. It counted ArtsAI apart from Claritas, but ArtsAI's attribution page now redirects to Claritas's audio attribution page, so the two are one product line [172]. It also coded Megaphone as undocumented. Megaphone's Help Center documents up to five third-party tracking pixels per order and its own pixels for promotion attribution [173, 174]. A second review round changed one more code (R2-22). Triton Digital's Podcast Attribution 101 never uses the word household. Triton passes the listener's IP address, user agent and episode identifier to the advertiser's attribution partner, and the partner does the matching [175]. Triton is coded as passing the IP address to that partner’s pixel. A third review round then found the sample incomplete: several scored sellers whose own pages describe attribution were missing. The sample was rebuilt under the registered rule, and a separate verifier opened the pages and tightened three codes (R3-01, R3-02).

The rebuilt sample has 23 products: the five measurement-table products with an attribution function (Edison Research and Nielsen Audio have none) and every scored row whose own documentation describes one, each counted once. A partner’s method is never imported into a row. Spotify Ad Analytics, Podscribe and Claritas match on household IP addresses or a household identity graph, and Megaphone matches on IP address plus device information [176, 177, 178, 174]. Magellan AI, AdsWizz’s AudioPixel, Triton Digital, Libsyn Ads, Simplecast, ART19 and Audacy name a pixel, a tag on the advertiser’s site that records a visit [179, 180, 175, 181, 182, 183, 184]. DAX US names its own listener IDs [185]. SiriusXM Media, iHeartMedia, Beasley and Acast list several methods with no default, and are reported apart [186, 187, 188, 189]. iHeartMedia’s AudioGraph, announced on 18 June 2026 and described on 23 September as available as a managed service on its owned broadcast inventory, uses ID-based segments for targeting and routes attribution through partners (Magellan AI, PlaceIQ and GroundTruth), so it does not count as an ID-based attribution method [190, 191, 192]. Podtrac, Amazon Ads audio, Odeeo, PodcastOne, Audioboom, National Public Media and Salem describe an attribution function without naming a method [193, 194, 195, 74, 196, 197, 198]. Veritonic, which the first coding included, sits outside the registered population.

That gives 11 of 12 (91.7%) with a documented method, and 11 of 19 (57.9%) with the undocumented products added. Both are above half, so H3 is supported under its registered rule. The margin is thin. Adding the four mixed products to the denominator, which the rule does not do, gives 11 of 23 (47.8%). Treating the two oldest supporting pages, Audacy’s and DAX US’s, as undocumented and recoding Claritas as an identity graph would together give 9 of 10 and 9 of 19 (47.4%), and the verdict would then be unresolved. This is a count of products. It says nothing about campaigns, spend or accuracy.

The codes also mix three different things: an identifier (the IP address), a matching level (the household) and a collection mechanism (the pixel). None says whether the resulting estimate is causal, modelled or reliable, and a product can document more than one design. Podscribe documents pixel-based attribution beside randomised listener holdouts [1]. A coding that splits collection method, matching unit, extrapolation and causal design would test the standards page's claim better than H3's single code. It was not registered, and this edition does not run it (review round 4, R4-03). With the four mixed products counted, the share is 11 of 23, so the result is a fragile basis for any general statement about audio attribution.

### Households, match rates and lookback windows

Triton says podcast listeners send the ad server no third-party cookies or mobile device IDs, only an IP address, a user agent and an episode ID [175]. At best, an IP address identifies a household. Attribution therefore matches households. It does not identify the person who heard the ad [199, 177, 178].

Spotify Ad Analytics uses the IP address as its primary identifier and filters for household IPs. Its device graph, powered by Tapad, covers Australia, Canada, Mexico and the US. Spotify says it generally sees a 40-80% match rate, varying by campaign. The page gives no base, period or definition of what is matched [176, 199]. Its default lookback windows depend on the IP type: 30 days for household and cable or DSL addresses, 1 day for corporate ones and 2 hours for cell towers. For impressions on non-household IPs it models results with a multiplier, total unique IPs divided by unique household IPs. The advertiser can switch it off [200]. The multiplier assumes those listeners convert at the household rate (an inference from the formula). This review found no validation of that assumption in the pages opened.

Podscribe matches on household IPs with a 30-day default window, adjustable from 0 to 60 days. Its device graph returns the household IP about 40% of the time for conversions on another IP. Where 10 or more user agents download podcasts on one IP, Podscribe calls the address noisy and models it. It says residential IPs usually carry about 50-60% of impressions; one of its pages says about half, and an FAQ example uses 47% [177, 201]. A Podscribe marketing page claims match rates of 85% or higher across channels, with no base or period. The same page also states a 40%+ cross-device match rate [202]. Claritas's 2022 methodology note advises using matches not verified to a household IP only as directional insight [178]. SiriusXM Media says a 14-day window is typical for listeners who heard an ad without clicking, and 30 days for clicks [203].

None of the sample products documents confidence intervals or any other uncertainty measure for attribution results in the pages opened. Only Magellan AI and Megaphone mention de-duplication, for reach and for duplicate tracking URLs [200, 204, 177, 179, 173]. A buyer receives a point estimate built on household matching, often with a modelled share added, and no error band.

### What the lift products test

An attributed conversion is an action that followed an ad. It does not show the ad caused it. AdsWizz's June 2021 report covered 600 campaigns from 12 US and UK agencies. It counted 238,022,875 audio impressions and 9,521,850 conversion actions, 4.0% of impressions. Actions counted within 7 days of an audio ad or 1 day of a retargeted display ad. There was no unexposed control group [205].

Lift products add a comparison group. Spotify's Conversion Lift compares exposed impressions with a control sample of impressions selected by time and geography. The page describes no randomisation and reports no significance test. It needs at least 250,000 impressions and four weeks live, and is offered in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the US [204]. Magellan AI builds simulated control groups from lookalike audiences and says no holdout group is required [206]. Claritas offers a "proprietary control group methodology" and reports an average 34% lift across more than 150 podcast campaigns, as compared with non-podcast channels, without method statistics [207]. In each design a model or a match picks the comparison group, so exposed and control listeners may differ in ways the match does not capture (an inference from the designs as described).

Seller and vendor outcome figures share that gap. Podscribe's benchmark report gives a median purchase lift of 26% for podcast-only campaigns against 10% for streaming-audio-only campaigns. The report page gives a base of 98K+ campaigns from May 2025 to April 2026. The report is gated, and neither the report page nor the trade article states the incrementality design or how many campaigns had an incrementality read [208, 209]. Westwood One, part of Cumulus Media, reported an NCSolutions study of a men's personal care brand from March to September 2017. It matched radio listening measured by Nielsen's Portable People Meter to household purchases, and found an 8% sales lift for the parent brand where men were exposed, and $11.96 return on ad spend across all households. It published no uncertainty or sample counts, and who paid for it is not stated [210]. Nielsen's October 2024 review of 2,857 campaigns in its marketing-mix models, selected where radio was a notable share of budget, says radio "consistently ranks as a top-tier medium for ROI" when impressions are large enough to measure. It publishes no ROI values. Nielsen also sells audio ratings and marketing-mix models [211].

### Podscribe, the measurement vendor profile

Podscribe is profiled as a measurement vendor. Measurement vendors are described, not scored. Its terms name the contracting company as Podible, Inc. The US trademark record for the PODSCRIBE mark names Podible, Inc., organised in Delaware per that record, and the Texas Comptroller lists it as active in Texas [212, 213, 214]. This review found no parent company or funding filing. Podscribe sells prefix-based download counting and impression verification, transcript-based airchecks, household-level pixel attribution, incrementality testing and SmartServe. List prices, read on 29 September 2026, start with a $250 monthly platform fee plus usage CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) from $1.50 for podcast and $0.50 for streaming impressions [112, 215].

Its certification is narrower than its marketing. IAB Tech Lab, the industry standards body, lists Podscribe under podcast guidelines v2.2 for the Download and Listener metrics, last certified on 8 December 2025. The certificate marks Ad Delivered and Client-Confirmed Ad Play as "Not Applicable" [111, 15]. Podscribe's home page calls it "the only 3rd-party, IAB-Certified attribution provider". The guidelines define no attribution or incrementality metric [216, 15]. Its pixel impressions for dynamically inserted ads can exceed one per download, so they sit outside the certified scope; its reports flag which count is used [110, 10].

Podscribe offers three incrementality designs. A synthetic control built from similar listeners is the default. Randomised ghost or PSA holdouts run through SmartServe for dynamically inserted ads; a ghost holdout serves nothing, and a PSA holdout serves a public service announcement. The randomised option is an add-on at $0.50 CPM on the price list. Publishers can also build their own holdouts. Podscribe estimates that about two-thirds of publishers accept SmartServe for all buys. A holdout marks listeners' IP addresses as control, so for podcast buys the unit of randomisation is in practice an IP address [1, 217, 218]. SmartServe also makes Podscribe the ad server and optimiser for campaigns it measures; it added AI optimisation and lookalike targeting on 6 August 2026 [219]. Podscribe says it checks its attribution against promo codes, vanity URLs and post-purchase surveys. This review found no published validation study of its attribution or incrementality with design and results, in the sources screened by the cutoff [177, 201].

### Independent causal tests found

The registered count needs a randomised, holdout or geographic experiment, published with design and results, and paid for by a party with no financial interest in the result. This review found no such test of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes, for podcast, streaming or broadcast audio, in the sources screened by the cutoff. The screen did not include a systematic search of academic databases [220, 221, 222].

It found three academic randomised field experiments with non-commercial radio messages. In the first, nonpartisan radio ads ran in a matched-pair design across 49 US cities holding mayoral elections in November 2005 and 2006. They cut the incumbent's vote share by 0.078 percentage points per gross rating point, a unit of audience reach times frequency. The authors call the result of borderline significance. Its funder is not stated in the pages opened [223, 220]. The second randomised the airdates of public service announcements on three US stations and was read at abstract level [221]. The third was a cluster-randomised trial in Burkina Faso, with 7 intervention and 7 control clusters from March 2012 to January 2015. It found no effect on under-5 mortality (risk ratio 1.00, 95% CI 0.82-1.22). The Wellcome Trust and the Planet Wheeler Foundation funded it; four authors were the chief executive and staff of the organisation that ran the campaign [222].

The largest randomised audio experiment found tested ad load on almost 35 million Pandora listeners from June 2014 to April 2016. One extra audio ad per hour cut mean listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227% (95% CI) and active listening days by 1.911% ± 0.130%. Pandora ran it, and one author is affiliated with Sirius XM Pandora [224]. It measures a cost to listeners and says nothing about advertiser outcomes; chapter 7 takes it up. It does show that an audio seller can randomise exposure at scale. With Podscribe also selling randomised holdouts, the missing public tests are a disclosure gap in the sources screened. They do not show that no tests are run.

**Study evidence table**

| Study | Year | Design | Sample | Setting | Format / channel | Outcome measure | Headline result | Uncertainty | Sponsor | Generalisability | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panagopoulos and Green, radio ads and electoral competition (AJPS 52(1)) | 2008 | Randomised field experiment; unit = city; treatment = nonpartisan radio ads at varying GRPs; comparator = no-ad cities; no holdout beyond control cities | 49 cities | US municipal elections, Nov 2005 and Nov 2006 | broadcast radio ads (political, nonpartisan) | incumbent vote share | -0.078 pp incumbent vote share per GRP | borderline significance; falls short of conventional levels | Academic (Yale ISPS); funder not stated on pages opened: independence likely, unconfirmed | low for commercial brand outcomes | [223, 220] |
| Calfano and Green, radio PSAs, three field experiments (Electronic News 13(3)) | 2019 | Randomised airdates of PSAs on three broadcast stations; comparator = non-air dates | 3 stations (listener counts not read) | US broadcast radio | radio public service announcements | audience behaviour (per abstract) | significant but short-lived effects (abstract) | not read (abstract only) | Academic; funder not read: independence unknown | low to medium (non-commercial spots) | [221] |
| Sarrassat et al., mass radio campaign, Burkina Faso (Lancet Global Health) | 2018 | Repeated cross-sectional cluster-randomised trial; 7 intervention v 7 control clusters; 1-min spots ~10/day plus 2-h programmes | 14 clusters | Burkina Faso, community radio | radio spots and long-format programmes (public health) | under-5 mortality (primary); facility use (secondary) | RR 1.00 for under-5 mortality; year-1 under-5 consultations +35% (routine data) | 95% CI 0.82-1.22; p>0.999 | Wellcome Trust and Planet Wheeler Foundation (no financial interest in result) | low for US commercial audio | [222] |
| Goli, Huang, Reiley, Riabov, Pandora ad-load experiment (QME 23(3)) | 2025 | Listener-level randomisation into nine ad-load arms (1% each) plus 10% control; 21 months | ~35 million listeners | Pandora music streaming, US | streaming audio ads (ad load) | listening hours, days, ad-free subscriptions | +1 ad/hour: -2.082% listening time; -1.911% active days | ± 0.227% and ± 0.130% (95% CI) | Pandora ran the experiment; author affiliated with Sirius XM Pandora: vendor | medium for streaming ad-load cost; not an advertiser outcome | [224] |
| NCSolutions for Westwood One, men's personal care brand radio sales effect | 2018 | Observational exposed v unexposed households (PPM panel matched to shopper cards); no randomised holdout | not stated on page | US AM/FM radio | broadcast radio ads | sales lift; ROAS | 8% sales lift (exposed male households); $11.96 ROAS all households | not reported | Westwood One (seller): commissioned | low (single brand, 2017) | [210] |
| Nielsen, radio in marketing mix models | 2024 | Meta-analysis of Nielsen MMMs | 2,857 campaigns | national, local, international | radio, streaming audio, podcast | ROI ranking | radio 'top-tier' ROI; podcast 'not yet indicative'; no values | not reported | Nielsen (own; sells audio ratings and MMM): vendor | unknown (selection: radio a notable share of budget) | [211] |
| Nielsen, host-read podcast ads brand-lift summary | 2020 | Exposed v control brand-lift surveys (exposure method as summarised by Nielsen) | 260+ surveys, 240 brands | US podcasts | podcast ads (host-read v non-host-read) | purchase and recommendation intent | +50% average (host-read v non-host-read, relative) | not reported | Nielsen (own): vendor | low (stated intent; exposure method unclear) | [516] |
| Podscribe Performance Benchmark Report (via Inside Radio) | 2026 | Incrementality method not stated in article; report gated | ~98,000 campaigns (rolling 12 months); incrementality base unknown | US podcast and streaming audio | podcast and streaming audio ads | purchase incrementality lift | median 26% (podcast-only) v 10% (streaming-only) | not reported | Podscribe (vendor) | unknown | [208, 466] |
| AdsWizz Audio Attribution Technology Report | 2021 | Exposed-only attributed conversions; no control group | 600 campaigns; 238,022,875 impressions | US and UK agencies' audio campaigns | streaming radio and podcast ads | conversion actions within 7 days | 4.0% conversions per impression | not reported | AdsWizz (vendor) | low (not causal) | [205] |
| iHeartMedia/Triton AudioGraph proof of concept | 2026 | Not described (ID-based plan v demo-based plan) | not stated | US broadcast radio | broadcast radio ads | unnamed KPI | +75% v demo-based plans | not reported | iHeartMedia/Triton (vendor) | unknown | [190] |
| dentsu Audio Attention Economy study, with Lumen Research (podcasts, radio; Amazon Music run separately) | 2023 | Forced-exposure listening (about one hour) + survey vs similarly recruited control; attention modelled by Lumen; comparator = dentsu cross-media norms | not stated | US; podcasts via Audacy, Cumulus, iHeartMedia, Spotify, SXM Media; radio via Audacy, Cumulus, iHeartMedia | podcast, broadcast radio, music streaming | modelled attentive seconds per 1,000 impressions (APM); brand recall; brand choice uplift | APM 10,126 vs 6,501 norms; recall 41% vs 38%; brand choice +10% vs +6% (podcast-only: recall 33%, +7%) | none reported | not stated; agency study with participating sellers who supplied ads and programming | low: model estimate equated to visual attention, lab exposure, no published method | [233, 234, 235, 236, 237] |
| dentsu Attention Economy phase two, with Amplified Intelligence (Spotify as audio partner) | 2021 | Survey of exposed users with questionnaires and brand choice; attention from a model of dwell and exposure factors; comparator = platform average | 1,000 | US and UK Spotify users listening to music | streaming music audio and video ads | attentive seconds | Spotify audio ads +14% attentive seconds vs platform average | none reported | not stated (seller summary) | low: seller summary of an unpublished agency report | [517] |
| Spotify Sonic Science (Neuro-Insight), volume 1 and 2023 WPP wave | 2021; 2023 | Lab listening to pre-recorded playlists and podcasts with ads; Steady State Topography headsets; comparator = Neuro-Insight all-media norms | 316 podcast + 273 music (2021); 135 US + 132 UK (2023) | US (2021); US and UK (2023) | streaming music, podcast | neural engagement, memory encoding, emotional intensity | 29% more engaging, 20% more memorable, 19% higher brand breakthrough than all other US media (2021) | none reported | Spotify (paid and commissioned Neuro-Insight) | low: proprietary benchmark, no error margins published | [240, 239] |
| Spotify Sonic Science (Neuro-Insight) visual attention wave | 2022 | Neuro measurement of occipital activity during audio ads; comparator = Neuro-Insight all-media benchmark | 250+ | US and Australia; 24 ads, 4 industries | streaming music, podcast | 'visual attention' (occipital-lobe activity read as mental imagery) | Spotify ads +27% visual attention vs benchmark | none reported | Spotify (paid and commissioned Neuro-Insight) | very low for auditory attention: construct is visual | [239] |
| Adelaide AU channel indices published by Westwood One | 2024 | AU model scores by channel; comparator = linear TV and social platforms | not stated | US (not stated on page) | broadcast radio, streaming audio, podcast | AU attention index; attention per dollar | AM/FM 85%, streaming audio 86%, podcasts 94% of linear TV; $1,000 AM/FM = $2,635 Facebook | none reported | not stated; published by a seller that is an Adelaide publisher partner | low: model outputs, CPM source unstated | [231, 242] |
| Adelaide and NPR podcast AU analysis | 2023-2024 | Observational comparison of higher- vs lower-AU shows; outcome data also used as AU model inputs | 60+ shows; 75M impressions; 75,000+ attributed conversions | US, NPR podcasts | podcast | site visitation; brand lift | higher-AU shows +30% site visitation; up to +19% brand lift | none reported | not stated; NPR (seller) with Adelaide | low: not an out-of-sample validation | [242, 232] |
| Sounds Profitable, The Ad Bargain (Signal Hill Insights) | 2024 | Online self-report survey; each medium's users asked about their medium | 2,020 | US adults 18+, weighted to Census | podcast vs radio, streaming TV, TikTok, YouTube | stated attention to ads ('watch or listen to all of the ads'); stated annoyance | all of the ads: podcasts 28%, radio 23%, streaming TV 18%, TikTok 14%, YouTube 10%; 63% say favourite podcasts' sponsor messages less annoying than other ads | none reported | Wondery, Spreaker, BetterHelp, ESPN Podcasts, Libsyn Ads, SiriusXM Podcast Network, NPR, Paramount | low: self-report, different bases per medium | [245, 246] |
| Sounds Profitable, Ad Nauseam (Signal Hill Insights) | 2024 | Online self-report survey of weekly podcast listeners | 1,011 | US weekly podcast listeners 18+ | podcast | stated annoyance, skipping, abandonment | 52% at least slightly annoyed (derived); 46% always or often skip; 30% have stopped a podcast over too many ads | none reported | Wondery, BetterHelp, ESPN Podcasts, Libsyn Ads, SiriusXM Podcast Network, NPR, Paramount | medium for podcast listeners' stated attitudes; no comparator medium | [246, 247] |
| Kantar Media Reactions 2021 and US 2025 | 2021; 2025 | Syndicated consumer receptivity surveys ranking channels and media brands | 14,500+ (2021, 23 markets); 21,300 (2025, 30 markets, at least 500 each) | global; US within 2025 study | all channels incl. podcast ads | stated ad receptivity (ad equity) | podcast ads 11th overall in 2021, top digital ad medium, 'more repetitive'; 2025 US consumer preference led by OOH, sponsorships, online publications | none reported | Kantar (own syndicated study) | medium for stated receptivity; not attention | [248, 249] |
| Johnson et al., Memory for short audio ads (Psychology & Marketing 38(11)) | 2021 | Lab experiment: incidental memory for 2-, 4- and 8-second ads heard during a driving game with music | not read (abstract only) | US lab (UCSF Neuroscape with Pandora) | streaming music audio ads | recall and recognition | each duration left recall and recognition traces; first or last in pod remembered best | not read | not read; five of eight authors at Pandora | low for cross-format claims: no comparator format | [518] |
| Veritonic with Audiomob, in-game audio brand lift | 2025 | Post-exposure survey of users who heard in-game audio ads; comparator recall figures of unstated origin | not stated (37M ad impressions) | mobile games; geography not stated | in-game audio | recall; stated format preference | recall 30% vs podcasts 6% and music streaming 5%; 54% prefer audio ads over interruptive video | none reported | not stated; partnership with Audiomob (seller) | low: unmatched comparators, sample not stated | [519] |
| Edison Research and Consumable, audio-led ad forced-exposure test | not visible | Forced exposure to one home-security ad in three randomised versions (audio only, audio + image, audio + video); results reported by audience segment | 2,158 | US adults | audio-led ad creative | stated liking and 'held my attention'; brand awareness and favourability | held attention: 71% of monthly podcast consumers vs 62% overall | none reported | not stated | low: per-version results not reported in the article read | [253] |
| Veritonic brand-lift survey published by Audiomob | 2025 | Online survey of respondents who had heard or interacted with Audiomob ads; no control | 333 | Mobile games (Audiomob inventory); geography not stated | In-game audio (rewarded and standard) | Stated preference, self-reported recall and behaviour | 54% prefer audio vs 9% video (37% no preference); 42% continue playing, 2% close game, 56% would skip if possible; 30% recall ads from mobile games vs TV 32% | None reported | Audiomob (conducted 'in partnership with Audiomob'); payer not stated | Low: self-selected vendor audience, 67% women, no dates | [361] |
| Audiomob case study: Lockwood Publishing (Avakin Life) | undated | Vendor case study; no method | not stated | One title, Avakin Life | Rewarded and standard audio | Revenue, retention, conversion | +10% revenue; '0%' retention damage; +5% conversion and spend | None reported | Audiomob (vendor) | Very low | [348] |
| Audiomob case study: TapNation (Ice Cream Inc) | undated | Vendor case study; no method | not stated | One hyper-casual title | Standard audio | ARPDAU, retention | +5% ARPDAU; 'without negatively impacting player retention' | None reported | Audiomob (vendor) | Very low | [349] |
| Audiomob case study: Magic Lab (Dream Wedding) | undated | Vendor case study; no method | not stated | One casual title | Rewarded and standard audio | Revenue, retention | +7% revenue; 'no retention damage' | None reported | Audiomob (vendor) | Very low | [350] |
| Odeeo case study: Rocket Studio (landing page; full study gated) | undated | Vendor case study; method not visible | not stated | Multiple titles, Rocket Studio (Vietnam) | In-game audio | Revenue, retention, playtime | +10% revenue; 'no impact on retention, playtime, or other monetization channels' | None reported | Odeeo (vendor) | Very low | [351] |
| Odeeo case study: Lihuhu (landing page; full study gated) | undated | Vendor case study; method not visible | not stated | Puzzle titles, Lihuhu (Vietnam), 'key markets' | In-game audio | Ad revenue, retention | Up to +8% ad revenue; 'without impacting player retention or satisfaction' | None reported | Odeeo (vendor) | Very low | [352] |
| Odeeo integration guide claim | 2022 | Vendor statement; recommends A/B tests but publishes none | not stated | Hyper-casual studios, US ARPDAU | Standard audio with icon | ARPDAU, retention, playtime | +4% to +7% ARPDAU (US); 'minimal adverse impact on retention and playtime' | None reported | Odeeo (vendor) | Very low | [354] |
| Gamejam anecdote in AdExchanger | 2021 | Anecdote from a partner developer; early test in 30 games | 30 games (players not stated) | Gamejam titles | Rewarded audio (Odeeo) | Engagement, retention | 'more engagement and stronger retention' (qualitative) | None reported | n/a (trade press quoting partner) | Very low | [333] |
| Burns, Roseboom and Ross: sensitivity of retention to in-game ads | 2016 | Observational panel; with-ads vs without-ads users; not randomised | 99,620 users (1/16 sample) in 21 games | 21 F2P mobile games using DeltaDNA analytics | In-game ads in general (not audio) | Individual-level retention measures | 'weak, insignificant effect' of ads on retention; game identity dominates | Significance tests reported; no CI for a retention difference in the passages read | Not stated; University of San Francisco authors plus one DeltaDNA author | Low for audio: different format, confounded exposure, 2016 | [355] |
| Odeeo x McDonald's/Admerasia (blog summary; full study gated) | 2025 | Outcome measurement by Claritas, 30-day lookback; design not published | not stated | Mobile apps, Asian American audiences, US | In-app audio | Installs, registrations, orders; LTR, CTR | +50% installs; +50% registrations; LTR 90.37%; CTR 3.13% | None reported | Odeeo (vendor); Claritas measurement, payer not stated | Low | [359] |
| Audiomob x HMRC 'Help for Hustles' (blog summary) | 2026 | Delivery metric plus post-campaign research; method not published | not stated | Mobile apps, UK | Standard and Moments audio | LTR, recall, stated action | LTR 95.2%; recall 27% (33% among side hustlers); 9 in 10 took or intended action | None reported | Audiomob (vendor) | Low | [364] |
| Audiomob x SMRS x UWE Bristol | undated | Vendor case study; delivery metrics only | not stated | Mobile games, UK | Rewarded and standard audio | LTR, CTR | LTR 73%; CTR 2.69% | None reported | Audiomob (vendor) | Low | [520] |

The table holds all 34 study records in this paper, with design, sponsor and uncertainty.

### Whether most podcast attribution is modelled

The standards page says most podcast attribution is modelled. The documented methods are consistent with that. Spotify applies a multiplier to non-household impressions, Podscribe extrapolates for noisy IPs and Claritas treats unverified matches as directional [200, 177, 178]. If residential IPs carry roughly half of impressions, as Podscribe says, roughly half sit outside direct household matching. Spotify lets the advertiser switch its modelling off. No source opened publishes the share of reported conversions that is modelled. The claim is consistent with the record, but "most" is not established.

### Privacy limits on IP matching

IP matching carries legal weight. California's privacy law, the CCPA, covers information that can be linked to a consumer or a household. It lists IP addresses, pixel tags and probabilistic identifiers as identifiers [225]. This paper infers that household matching for audio attribution handles personal information under that law. Whether a disclosure counts as sharing, a sale or a service-provider transfer depends on contracts that are not public. The opt-out signals regulators name have no documented path to podcast downloads made through third-party apps [225, 226, 227, 228]. Acast does not pass IP addresses to third parties in the European Economic Area without consent [229]. Podscribe's privacy policy offers an email opt-out from IP and user-agent collection [230]. Chapter 11 sets out the rules.



## 7. Attention and the listener


*Audio sellers say their ads earn more attention and irritate listeners less than other formats. This chapter codes the public evidence behind those claims with the attention paper's definitions and finds none of it strong enough to settle them in either direction.*

> **In short.**
> Every public audio attention, memory and intrusiveness claim this review coded is insufficient evidence under Q4's registered rule; none has independent support and none is contradicted. The most-cited study, dentsu's 2023 work with Lumen Research, reports a modelled attention score that Lumen equates to visual attention, and the sellers that took part supplied the ads and programming. Spotify says it paid for its 2021 and 2022 Neuro-Insight studies, and its "visual attention" figure rests on occipital-lobe activity read as mental imagery. Adelaide's attention unit for audio is a prediction, and its NPR analysis cannot be treated as an out-of-sample validation, an inference from the pages. The Media Rating Council lists Adelaide's audio channels as pre-audit reviewed in May 2026, audit not begun. Surveys sponsored by podcast sellers point both ways: 63% of respondents in one call favourite podcasts' sponsor messages less annoying, while 52% of weekly podcast listeners in another call the ads at least slightly annoying. The strongest design found is Pandora's randomised test, in which one extra ad per hour cut listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227%. None of the claims coded cites the IAB and MRC Attention Measurement Guidelines v1.0 of November 2025.

The author's audio playbook says audio sells on attention and non-intrusiveness. Q4 asks what evidence stands behind claims of that kind. It is a research question with no direction, answered with a coding rule registered before extraction. Independent support needs a study whose design fits the claim (a randomised or holdout test, or an out-of-sample validation for an attention model), with published method and results and a funder with no financial interest in the result. Contradictory evidence needs a study that meets the same bar and finds the opposite. Everything else is insufficient evidence.

The definitions come from this project's companion paper on attention measurement. It keeps four layers apart: the opportunity to see or hear, attention, memory or brand response, and behaviour or sales. For every number it records the construct claimed and the measurement basis, either direct observation of people or a model estimate. A model output is never called observed attention.

![None of the coded public claims has independent support; all are coded insufficient evidence.](figures/fig-evidence-audit.svg)

*Figure fig-evidence-audit. **None of the coded public claims has independent support; all are coded insufficient evidence.** Every public claim coded by this review that audio earns attention, is less intrusive, or (for in-game audio) does not hurt player retention, under the registered Q4 rule. The coded set is not complete: a verifier found at least four more attention claims on pages already screened, which would code the same way on the evidence shown. Retention claims were judged against a non-inferiority margin of 1.0 percentage point in day-7 retention, fixed before any study was read. Units: claims. Scope: claims coded by workstreams F and H by the cutoff. Sources [233], [308]. Caveat: Insufficient evidence is not refutation: it means no study with a design that fits the claim, published method and an independent funder was found in the sources screened. Data: data/figure-data.json#q4*

Every public claim this review coded is insufficient evidence: 19 audio attention, memory and intrusiveness claims, 13 in-game retention claims and 6 in-game attention claims. Insufficient is not refuted, and the class is wide. It holds a strong experiment run by a seller, which fails only the independent-funder test, beside modelled scores and assertions with no study behind them. The study table in chapter 6 records each study's design, sample, uncertainty and sponsor, so what a study shows stays visible when it cannot count as independent; replication was not coded (review round 4, R4-05). Chapter 9 discusses the in-game rows. The 19 is a count of coded rows. A separate verification agent found at least four more claims of the same kind on pages already screened, among them a Westwood One ad-skipping survey and National Public Media's benchmark comparisons, and each would code the same way on the evidence shown [231, 232].

### The dentsu and Lumen study

Dentsu, the agency group, announced its audio Attention Economy study with Lumen Research on 1 August 2023. Podcasts were tested with Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify and SXM Media, and radio with Audacy, Cumulus and iHeartMedia. Amazon Ads ran a separate study on Amazon Music. The release reports 10,126 attentive seconds per 1,000 impressions (APM) for audio ads, against dentsu norms of 6,501. Correct brand recall was 41% against 38%, and brand choice uplift was 10% against 6% [233]. The norms were dentsu's cross-media benchmarks for TV, online video, social and display.

Per SiriusXM Media's note, recruited listeners chose content across genres, heard standard ad loads and listened for about an hour. Lumen then "modeled an attention score which is equivalent to that based on visual attention" from passive listening data, survey results and the type of ad exposure. The releases screened publish no reference labels for auditory attention, validation, sampling error, panel size, fieldwork dates or funder [233, 234, 235]. Under the attention definitions, the figure is a model estimate scaled to a visual construct and does not record observed listening.

The sellers describe the headline aggregate two ways. The joint release says the 41% recall and 10% uplift cover podcasts, radio and music streaming. Audacy says they cover radio and podcasts only. The pooled 10% uplift is higher than both the podcast figure (7%) and the radio figure (9%), so it cannot be an average of those two alone. For podcasts alone, Audacy reports 33% average brand recall, which it calls "in line with visual ads" although the norm in the joint release is 38%. Podcast brand choice lift was 7% against a 6% norm [236, 237, 233]. With no sample size or uncertainty by format, a one-point gap cannot be judged.

The sellers took part and still cite the result. Audacy called the study "third-party" while saying Audacy and other audio players supplied samples of their advertising and programming [237]. SiriusXM Media's page of 21 September 2026 says audio ads "outperform benchmarks across video, TV, display, and social by more than 50%", sourced to the 2023 study. Its own 2023 note said the benchmarks were those at the time of release; the 2026 page drops that caveat [238, 235].

### Spotify's neuro studies

Spotify's Sonic Science pages report brain-measurement studies run by Neuro-Insight, and Spotify states that it "paid and commissioned" the 2021 and 2022 work [239]. The 2021 study reports that advertising on Spotify is 29% more engaging, 20% more memorable and delivers 19% higher brand breakthrough than all other US media, defined as TV, radio, digital audio, digital video and social. Spotify footnotes these figures to a 2021 "Post-SST Survey" with 316 podcast and 273 music participants. SST is Steady State Topography, Neuro-Insight's headset method of recording brain activity. It is not established that this is the brain-measurement sample. A 2023 wave with WPP, with 135 participants in the US and 132 in the UK, reports other figures, and its funding is not stated on the page [240, 239]. The comparator is Neuro-Insight's own all-media database, with no matched test and no uncertainty shown.

Spotify also says its ads drive 27% more "visual attention" than Neuro-Insight's all-media benchmark, from 250+ participants in the US and Australia, 24 ads and two formats, music and podcasts, in the 2022 work. Neuro-Insight's explanation is activity in the occipital lobes, the visual cortex, which it reads as listeners creating mental imagery [239]. That makes the figure a neural proxy for a visual construct. This review's reading, an inference under the attention definitions, is that it does not measure attention to the audio ad. The attention guidelines of the IAB (the digital advertising trade body) and the MRC, described below, ask neuro and biometric methods to disclose quantifiable error margins. Spotify's pages show none [241].

### Adelaide's attention units

Adelaide sells a vendor-defined attention unit, the AU. It describes AU as a metric that "evaluates thousands of signals to predict attention and subsequent impact". For podcasts, the exposure inputs are genre, ad position, ad load and ad type, and full-funnel outcome data also feed the model [242, 243]. No page screened describes observed listening labels for audio, so the measurement basis is a model estimate. MediaSense audited AU from February to June 2025 at Adelaide's request. Adelaide's summary calls the method "outcome-driven" and names no audio scope [244].

Cumulus Media's Westwood One published Adelaide AU comparisons on 12 August 2024. They put AM/FM radio at 85% of linear TV's attentiveness, streaming audio at 86% and podcasts at 94%. They also say $1,000 of AM/FM ads need $2,635 of Facebook ads for the same attention. The raw page could not be retrieved; as read through a summarising fetch tool, it gives no sample, period, CPM (cost per thousand impressions) source or AU method. Westwood One was a launch partner of Adelaide's publisher product for audio, announced on 9 May 2024 [231, 242]. By these indices every audio channel sits below linear TV, and the per-dollar comparison rests on unsourced prices.

National Public Media, NPR's sponsorship subsidiary, published an analysis with Adelaide on 29 April 2024. It covered more than 60 shows, 75 million impressions and over 75,000 attributed conversions, with an initial analysis in 2023. Shows with higher AU scores had 30% higher site visitation and up to 19% greater brand lift. National Public Media says the brand-lift and conversion data were "processed by the AU model", and no held-out test is described. The association therefore cannot be treated as an out-of-sample validation of attention. That is an inference, because the pages do not say whether the same outcome data were used to fit the scores [242, 232]. The full report sits behind a personal-data form and was not read.

The Media Rating Council (MRC) is the US body that accredits audience measurement. In its lists read on 28 September 2026, this review found no accredited or in-process podcast or streaming-audio measurement service. The only audio-related entry under review is Adelaide's AU, whose channels include podcasts, streaming audio and terrestrial audio. It is listed as "Pre-audit reviewed 5/2026, Audit not begun" [115].

### What listeners say in surveys

Sounds Profitable has published surveys that point in both directions. The Ad Bargain, released on 4 April 2024, is an online survey of 2,020 US adults run by Signal Hill Insights and sponsored by eight podcast sellers and advertisers, among them Wondery, SiriusXM Podcast Network and NPR. In it, 63% of respondents said their favourite podcasts' sponsorship messages are less annoying than other ads; the release does not state the base for that figure. Asked whether they "watch or listen to all of the ads", 28% answered yes for podcasts, 23% for radio, 18% for streaming TV, 14% for TikTok and 10% for YouTube [245, 246]. Each medium was asked of its own users, and all of it is self-report.

Ad Nauseam came from the same body and a similar sponsor group on 12 June 2024. It surveyed 1,011 US adults who had listened to a podcast in the previous week. Of them, 52% described podcast ads as at least slightly annoying, against 48% who enjoy them or do not mind. Some 46% said they always or often skip ads, and 30% said they had stopped listening to a podcast because it carried too many ads [246, 247]. That question had no comparison medium. Sponsor-funded self-report supports the less-annoying claim in one survey and qualifies it in the other.

Kantar's syndicated Media Reactions survey names no audio seller as funder. Its 2021 edition, covering more than 14,500 consumers in 23 markets, placed podcast ads 11th in the overall ad equity ranking. It called them the preferred digital ad medium, and more repetitive than in 2020 [248]. The 2025 US release, from 21,300 consumers in 30 markets, gives no podcast or radio rank. It says marketers' plans to raise podcast budgets, from a global survey of 974 senior marketers, are "at odds with the consumer preference for OOH [out-of-home], sponsorships, and online publications" [249]. In September 2022 Acast wrote that podcast host reads ranked No.1 in Kantar's 2021 report. Kantar's own summary says podcast ads overtook influencer content as the preferred digital ad medium and does not mention host reads [250, 248]. Kantar's survey has no audio-seller funder, but it measures stated preference, which cannot carry an attention claim in either direction.

The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), the radio sellers' trade body, says radio holds more than 93% of its lead-in audience during commercial breaks. Its source is the 2011 edition of a study by Nielsen Audio, Media Monitors and Coleman Insights. The same page shows retention falling from 100% for one-minute breaks to 85% for breaks of six minutes or more [251]. Audience retention measures the opportunity to hear, the first layer, and says nothing about attention.

Other claims rest on no cited study or on self-report. iHeartMedia's page of 3 October 2025 says audio reaches people in "high-attention moments like traffic, sports, and weather updates" and cites nothing for that sentence. A forced-exposure test by Edison Research and Consumable of 2,158 US adults found that 71% of monthly podcast consumers said the ad held their attention, against 62% of the whole sample; the article read gives neither year nor funder [252, 253]. That is a comparison of audiences, not formats.

### Pandora's randomised ad-load test

Between June 2014 and April 2016, Pandora ran a randomised experiment on almost 35 million listeners of its mobile app. A hash of each user ID assigned listeners to one of nine ad-load groups or a control group. One additional ad per hour reduced mean listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227% and active listening days by 1.911% ± 0.130%, both at 95% confidence. Higher ad load also increased paid ad-free subscriptions [254, 255]. Pandora, the seller, ran the experiment, and its then staff published it; a journal version appeared in Quantitative Marketing and Economics in February 2025.

It is the strongest design this review found, and it shows a measurable cost in listening time. It varied ad load within one music service, with no other format as comparator, so it neither supports nor contradicts a claim that audio ads are less intrusive than other formats. Attention was not measured. Chapter 6 lists it among the randomised audio tests.

### The standard no claim cites

The IAB and the MRC published final Attention Measurement Guidelines, Version 1.0, in November 2025. They bring "audio-based signals without corresponding visual media" into scope. They define attention as whether an ad was "seen or heard by a person and to what depth", and they require audibility for audio ads. Neuro and biometric devices must be validated and must disclose quantifiable error margins. The guidelines state that attention is not a standalone measure of effectiveness [241]. None of the audio claims coded here cites the guidelines or an audit against them. Most predate November 2025, but SiriusXM Media's page of 21 September 2026 came ten months later and still rests on the 2023 dentsu figures [238].

A claim would move to independent support with a randomised or holdout test against another format, or an out-of-sample validation of an audio attention model against observed listening, published in full by a funder with no stake in the answer. This review found no such study in the sources screened by the cutoff [233, 239, 245, 232]. The playbook's claim that audio sells on attention and non-intrusiveness is therefore unresolved from public sources.



## 8. Brand safety and suitability


*Podcast buyers can now ask for their ads to run only in episodes that software has transcribed and scored. This chapter asks who has checked that software and what a buyer can see once a campaign has run.*

> **In short.**
> In the Media Rating Council's records read on 28 September 2026, this review found no audio or podcast brand-safety or suitability service accredited or under review; the two accredited content-level services cover YouTube. The World Federation of Advertisers discontinued the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) on 9 August 2024. GARM's eleven categories now sit in IAB Tech Lab's Content Taxonomy 3.1, and its four risk levels in a vector that IAB Tech Lab still defines by reference to the GARM specifications. Three transcript-based classifiers recur in the sources: Barometer, Sounder and Proximic by Comscore. None has published accuracy figures in the sources screened. Sounder is owned by Triton Digital, an iHeartMedia subsidiary. Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify announced suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads on 11 June 2026, and IAS announced episode-level pre-bid segments for Spotify podcasts bought through The Trade Desk from July 2026. Among reports for advertisers in the sources screened, only Acast documents a show-by-show list of where an ad ran, counted in ad deliveries.

Brand safety keeps an ad away from content that almost no advertiser would accept; GARM called that line the Floor. Suitability lets each advertiser set its own tolerance by content category and risk level. In podcasts the tools transcribe each episode and classify the text. Most of the record on them is the vendors' own documentation, and this chapter labels it that way.

### No accredited audio brand-safety service

The Media Rating Council (MRC) is the US body that audits and accredits media measurement. Its lists, as displayed on 28 September 2026, carry two accredited services for content-level brand safety and suitability: Google's own YouTube brand safety, and Zefr's third-party reporting on it. Both run in desktop, mobile web and in-app environments, plus connected TV for Zefr. The environment key has no audio entry [116, 115]. MRC also accredits property-level ad verification, which rates whole sites and apps, for DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science (IAS) and Protected Media. None of those covers an audio environment [116]. MRC's multimedia, television, outside-US and radio pages carry no audio brand-safety entry either [256, 117]. The one entry under review that names podcasts or streaming audio is Adelaide's attention measurement, at pre-audit stage; chapter 7 covers attention.

A standard exists that such an audit could apply. MRC's September 2018 supplement on content-level brand safety is not written for audio. It does require content-level measurement to go beyond keywords and to consider images, video, text and audio [257, 258].

### What replaced GARM

GARM was an initiative of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). Its toolset included the Brand Safety Floor and the Adjacency Standards Framework. The WFA's statement of 9 August 2024 discontinued it [259]. When the WFA and X Corp. announced on 29 July 2026 that they had settled X's litigation over GARM, the WFA's statement said it "will not form or restart GARM or a similar initiative" [260, 261].

The categories outlived the body. IAB Tech Lab, the technical standards arm of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), carries all eleven as the "Sensitive Topics" branch of its Content Taxonomy 3.1. That version is dated December 2024, with public comment open until 24 January 2025 [262, 263, 264]. The risk levels survive as labels. IAB Tech Lab's Descriptive Vectors file for Content Taxonomy 3.0 has a vector named "Brand Suitability and Risk", with the values Floor, High Risk, Medium Risk and Low Risk. Its implementation notes, updated in August 2025, define each level only by reference to the GARM and 4A's APB specifications [265, 266]. The 4A's APB is the Advertiser Protection Bureau of the American Association of Advertising Agencies [267]. So the level labels have a maintained home, but their definitions point to a closed framework. This review found no IAB Tech Lab document restating those definitions after GARM closed, in the sources screened by the cutoff.

Sellers describe the scheme in different words. Spotify's 2023 advertiser articles, still live in September 2026, cite GARM's Floor and framework. Triton Digital's Sounder documentation attributes its eleven categories and four levels to an "IAB Brand Suitability and Risk Framework", a name that echoes IAB Tech Lab's vector. SiriusXM Media's 2025 guide attributes its floor to "IAB guidelines", but the link leads to its page on the IAB podcast measurement guidelines, which count downloads and ads. A Basis and Barometer release of August 2026 cites an "industry agreed upon framework" [268, 269, 270, 271]. This review infers from these few vendor pages that GARM still anchors audio suitability tiers two years after it closed.

### Three classifiers and their owners

Barometer classifies podcast episodes for suitability. Its category document, current as of 11 June 2024, applies the GARM categories to podcasts. Where a category is present, it gives a high, medium or low risk level from topic classification plus tone [272]. Between November 2023 and September 2026, Barometer announced or documented integrations with at least eight audio sellers and buying platforms. Pre-bid episode targeting, applied before a buyer bids, went live across Acast's inventory on 22 January 2026. It became available across the AdsWizz product suite and the SiriusXM Podcast Network on 24 March 2026, and went live for Spotify Ad Exchange buys on The Trade Desk on 17 June 2026. Basis, a demand-side platform (DSP), announced an integration in August 2026 and PRX a partnership in September 2026; neither release says the service is live, though a Barometer and Magellan AI release of 15 September 2026 lists Basis among the platforms where Barometer is live [273] [274, 275, 276, 271, 277].

Sounder sits inside a seller group. iHeartMedia launched Sounder-powered episode-level brand safety on 27 February 2023, while it was a strategic investor in Sounder, and described the launch as third-party verification. Triton Digital announced its acquisition of Sounder on 26 March 2024. On 20 May 2026 Triton announced expanded availability of Sounder.AI contextual and suitability segments in The Trade Desk [278, 279, 280, 269]. The list of subsidiaries filed with iHeartMedia's 2025 Form 10-K includes Triton Digital, Inc. [281, 66]. Since 2024, then, iHeartMedia's own group has owned the classifier it launched as third-party.

Audioboom announced on 11 March 2025, in a non-regulatory press release, that Sounder's AI would be built into its Showcase marketplace. Its FY2025 results, published on 16 April 2026, list among key commercial developments that it “launched AI capabilities in Showcase through the integration of Sounder AI” for brand suitability guidance and contextual targeting [282, 71]. That is a one-line issuer statement with no mechanics, categories or independent confirmation (review round 3, R3-08). A classifier owned by a competing seller group’s subsidiary therefore rates Audioboom’s shows. That is this review's inference; no source describes an effect on buyers.

Comscore's release of 22 July 2026 announced integrations of Proximic by Comscore with Spotify, SiriusXM, Triton Digital, Acast and Libsyn. They let advertisers activate brand-safety tools and predicted audiences from episode transcripts. The headline says "Targeting and Measurement". The body describes targeting and suitability activation, not measurement. It names no measurement metric, category list, risk level or accreditation, and does not say which integration is live on which platform [283]. The help pages of the Triton Advertising Platform (TAP) do not document the Proximic integration, which exists for Triton only as that announcement [284, 285].

None of the three classifiers appears in MRC's accredited or under-review lists, and the releases that describe them state no accuracy, error rate or independent validation [116, 274]. The performance words that exist carry no method. Acast's January 2026 release with Barometer says initial campaigns reported "100% alignment" with the advertiser's brand standard at episode level, with no sample or verifier named [274]. SiriusXM Media calls Barometer's method "highly accurate" and gives no figure [286]. This review found no published validation study for any of the three, with precision, recall or agreement between human raters, in the sources screened by the cutoff.

### What sellers let buyers set

In 2023 Spotify documented sensitive-topic filters in Ad Studio at four levels (Standard, Partial, Limited and Restricted), with a Custom setting per category. On the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) it added a Sensitive Topics control on top of the GARM floor, and transcript-based Contextual Topics [268, 287]. Its current US help-centre page, read on 29 September 2026 through a summarising fetch and re-read in a rendering browser for review round 3 (R3-09), documents the same four sensitive-topic levels under “Contextual placement controls”, applied uniformly or per topic, and episode-level transcript classification; the Ads API v3 reference lists the same levels [288, 289]. The page is undated, and neither source documents a show-level allow or block list.

SiriusXM Media documents transcription targeting and Barometer pre-bid evaluation. Its published tier scheme changed from three levels in 2023 to a floor plus two tiers in 2025, and it publishes no category list [286, 290, 270]. At its ad-technology arm AdsWizz, episodes uploaded to the Simplecast hosting system are scored by Barometer before publication, and untagged episodes cannot run in suitability-targeted campaigns [275, 291]. TAP documents Sounder episode tags for flights and programmatic deals, plus include and exclude rules on stations and podcasts. Its help pages document no third-party verification integration [284, 285].

Some controls face the other way. Libsyn announced Barometer verification of suitability for every episode in August 2024. Its creator-side controls, documented in August 2026, are three exclusion groups over advertiser categories. They decide which advertisers may run on a show, which is a separate question from what content an advertiser's ad runs beside [292, 293]. At Amazon, Wondery said in May 2024 that its whole back catalogue carried Barometer scores. This review found no Amazon Ads documentation of episode-level suitability controls for audio or podcast buys, in the sources screened by the cutoff [294, 295].

The Listen Quotient scores these controls as dimension 12. Vendor documentation caps a cell at 4, no row in either cohort reaches 5, and most radio groups have no scoreable record. Chapter 12 reports the scores.

### Verification from outside the seller

On 11 June 2026, IAS and DoubleVerify each announced brand safety or suitability measurement for YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, reported post-bid, after the ads run. YouTube Audio Ads run across YouTube Music, podcast content on YouTube and other audio-forward inventory that Google sells. Neither release covers podcast publishers' own inventory or claims MRC accreditation for audio. IAS's digital-audio product page documents audibility and invalid-traffic measurement on Pandora only [296, 297, 298]. The first draft said this review had found no IAS or DoubleVerify classification of podcast inventory outside YouTube. The freeze recheck found one: on 16 June 2026 IAS announced episode-level contextual segments, applied before the bid, for Spotify podcasts bought through The Trade Desk, available from July. The release names protection of the brand among its aims. Whether the segments went live was not confirmed, and no cell was rescored for it [299].

Spotify reported in June 2023 that IAS, at Spotify's invitation, classified a sample of 800,000 monetised podcast episodes from a 12-month period across the eleven GARM categories and all risk levels, using machine learning with random human review. Less than 1% of the Spotify Originals and Exclusives and SPAN content in the sample fell below the GARM Floor [300]. Only Spotify reports the result, without IAS's method document, sample dates or uncertainty, and who paid IAS is not stated. The unit is episodes, which says nothing about impressions or listening time.

SiriusXM Media announced Barometer verification reporting in September 2023, in beta, using ArtsAI pixels and reporting mid-campaign. It stated general availability for January 2024, which no later source confirmed [290]. Both vendors are engaged through the seller, so independence is not established, and a pixel sees only the impressions that fire it.

On 6 August 2026 Nielsen agreed to acquire DoubleVerify for $13.60 per share in cash, an enterprise value of about $2.15 billion. The deal was expected to close by the first quarter of 2027, subject to DoubleVerify shareholder approval and regulatory approvals [301]. DoubleVerify's definitive proxy of 29 September 2026 says the waiting period under the US merger-review law, the HSR Act, expired on 21 September and sets the stockholder vote for 29 October 2026, so the deal was pending at the cutoff [302, 303]. Nielsen Audio's portable people meter service is MRC-accredited for radio [117]. If the deal closes, radio audience measurement and a verifier with a YouTube audio product would share one owner. That is a status to recheck; the record shows no effect.

### Where the ad ran

Acast documents a list of shows. Its campaign analytics dashboard for advertisers lists the podcasts where an ad was served most, with each show's impressions and share of delivered impressions, and the downloadable campaign report gives the full list. The unit is what Acast calls IAB-valid delivered impressions, which are ad deliveries in the guidelines' terms (chapter 4). Acast's Ad Manager also breaks reports down by show, but only eligible Creator Network partners can use it, so it serves the seller's side [304, 305].

SiriusXM Media's Barometer verification offers mid-campaign reporting, and PRX's release promises monitoring "from planning through reporting". Neither states whether the grain is show or episode. Amazon DSP's inventory-tier reporting of November 2025 does not name audio [290, 277, 295]. This review found no public documentation of show-level placement reporting for Spotify, iHeartMedia, Libsyn Ads, Audioboom or Amazon audio, in the sources screened by the cutoff.



## 9. In-game audio


*In-game audio is sold by a few specialists, and almost every figure about it comes from the sellers. No in-game measurement guideline found sets counting rules for an audio ad, and this review found no public study that tests what these ads do to player retention.*

> **In short.**
> Audiomob and Odeeo are the two in-game audio specialists scored in this paper. Both now sell beyond games, so neither discloses in-game audio scale on its own. Their audience figures are global, carry no period and cannot be added together. The 2022 in-game measurement guidelines define no audio ad unit, and the IAB's 2025 gaming framework lists audio metrics with no attention metric and no counting rules. The assurance on record covers company processes: seals from the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) and an IAB UK listing for Audiomob, TAG enrolment only for Odeeo, and no Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for either. Both still show Moat, a verification service Oracle retired on 30 September 2024. Every retention claim found is coded insufficient evidence under the registered non-inferiority rule. The attention evidence offered is listen-through rate, self-reported recall or assertion.

Chapter 1 puts in-game audio in scope by format. A package that also sells visual placements inside games is split, and the companion gaming paper covers the visual part.

### Who sells it

Audiomob is operated by AUDIOMOB LTD, a private UK company [306]. It sells rewarded, standard and Moments audio units inside mobile apps. A Moments ad is tied to an event the developer tags, such as a win. Rewarded and standard ads play only when the device is not muted [307, 308]. Its homepage now sells audio ads across streaming, social media, podcast and gaming apps [309].

Odeeo is the trading name of Sonic Odeeo Ltd., a private company in Herzliya, Israel, founded in 2021 [310, 311]. It sells Icon Audio and Banner Audio, which pair audio with a small visual, and an opt-in Rewarded Audio unit [312, 313]. Global, the UK media group, invested an undisclosed amount on 13 June 2022 and named its DAX business Odeeo's exclusive UK and US sales partner [311]. Since 2025 Odeeo has added display banners to its software development kit (SDK), announced Google Authorized Buyer status (17 April 2026) and announced access to Unity's exchange supply (22 June 2026). In 2026 it describes itself as selling audio, display, video and native [314, 315, 316]. Only its audio units are covered here.

Two other companies have their own in-game audio technology. Gadsme added audio ads to its in-game SDK in September 2022, with Targetspot's Targetplay division as representation partner [62, 317]. Its programmatic page now lists audio as one of four formats, and its audio-ads page returns a 404 error, so this paper lists Gadsme's audio and does not score it [318]. Targetplay describes its own SDK and a server-to-server integration with game studios. Azerion owns Targetspot. Under a partnership Audiomob announced on 9 July 2026, Azerion also offers Audiomob's Moments format to its advertisers, so one group sells its own in-game audio and resells another seller's [319, 320]. Targetspot is listed, because its role and US availability are not settled [321]. Other names found, such as Apex Gaming Network in Canada, resell or market in-game audio [322, 323].

Audiomob and Odeeo are scored in cohort A, the audio inventory sellers. Both sit in the Partly documented band, and both bands are provisional: they move when missing evidence is filled. Chapter 12 gives the results.

### How it is bought

Audiomob's documented routes are direct sales and its own ad system. Bauer Media Audio added Audiomob to its audioXi exchange in eight European markets in December 2025. Audiomob announced in July 2026 that Azerion offers Moments, and a self-service platform, AllMediaDesk, lists Audiomob inventory for Germany. Audiomob announced its own advertiser demand-side platform (DSP) in March 2021; its current status is undocumented. This review found no named third-party DSP integration for Audiomob in the sources screened by the cutoff [324, 325, 326, 327, 328].

Odeeo's programmatic routes rest mostly on its own or partners' statements. On 29 September 2026 DAX's sellers.json still listed an "Odeeo US" account marked "DAX US" [100]. Chapter 3 notes that this could count Odeeo's US supply twice. Odeeo announced on 11 March 2026 that its inventory was available through Amazon DSP. A planning service for Amazon DSP, with a commercial interest in plans that include the deal, checked its own account on 17 July 2026 and found one Odeeo deal: a private auction on Magnite, US only and audio only. No Amazon Ads page naming Odeeo was found [329, 330]. Odeeo says it has been on Walmart DSP since 13 August 2026; only its own statement was found [331].

In 2023 Odeeo said every ad it sold ran on its directly integrated SDK and never through an ad buy [332]. Its 2026 Google and Unity deals add exchange-bought supply, and neither says whether audio units run on it [315, 316]. This paper infers that a buyer cannot assume an Odeeo impression is in-game audio delivered through Odeeo's own SDK.

The only public price found is a 2021 anecdote. The head of a game developer working with Odeeo expected audio CPMs, the price per thousand impressions, of $5 to $10 within a year [333]. It is not a current rate.

### Scale, by the sellers' own count

Every scale figure found comes from a seller, with no period, method or US breakout. Audiomob's About page claims 300m monthly active users, more than 15 billion monthly bid requests and 1,200 apps. In July 2026 it gave more than 500 million monthly users and over 15 billion monthly ad requests, across gaming and non-gaming content [334, 326]. Odeeo's About page claims more than 300 million monthly active users, more than 12 billion monthly bid requests and more than 1,000 games. Other figures differ: 140 million monthly active users on an undated AdsWizz page, and company-supplied figures of 15 million daily active users and 100 billion ad requests in 2023 [335, 336, 337].

These are different series. Monthly active users count players of the apps that carry a seller's SDK. Neither seller reports how many of them heard an ad. Bid requests and ad requests count opportunities to sell. Both list TapNation as a developer partner, so their audiences can overlap and the figures must not be added [335, 334].

This review found no estimate of in-game audio spend from an original market-research publisher in the sources screened by the cutoff. Chapter 2 reports the one figure found, a vendor's 2022 belief with no definition or method [62].

### Standards and counting rules

The Intrinsic In-Game (IIG) Measurement Guidelines 2.0, issued by the IAB, IAB Tech Lab and the MRC in August 2022, cover display and video placements. They define no audio ad unit. Audio appears only as an optional consideration for video impressions and duration [338].

The IAB Gaming Measurement Framework of June 2025 has an Audio Ad Metrics Matrix for intrinsic in-game, rewarded and interstitial placements. Its metrics include audible impressions, reach, frequency, listen-through rate, volume level, brand lift and skips. The display and video matrices list an attention metric. The audio matrix does not. It sets no counting rules, such as a volume threshold for an audible impression, and it is not a basis for accreditation [339].

So each seller writes its own audibility rule. In 2023 Audiomob described pausing an ad and prompting the player to unmute when device volume fell below 30% [340, 308]. Odeeo said in 2023 that it confirmed audibility at a 10% device-volume threshold [332]. Gadsme said in 2022 that it counted an impression only on unmuted phones with volume above 30% [62]. This review traced none of these thresholds to an MRC or IAB Tech Lab standard.

### Assurance, and what it covers

TAG's registry shows Audiomob with two seals. Brand Safety Certified rests on validation by a third-party auditor and covers global operations. Certified Against Fraud rests on self-attestation and covers United States operations only. Audiomob's May 2026 post calls both renewed certifications and does not state that difference [341, 342]. IAB UK's Gold Standard directory lists Audiomob as certified in its Buy Side Support category [343, 344]. Gold Standard is a UK programme of supply-chain practice and certifies no audio metric.

On 29 September 2026 TAG's registry showed Odeeo only as enrolled in the Verified by TAG programme, with no seal. Odeeo was not in IAB UK's Gold Standard directory, the MRC's digital accreditation page or any IAB Tech Lab compliance list [345, 343, 116, 15]. The MRC page showed no accreditation or audit in progress for Audiomob, Odeeo or Gadsme, and no accredited audio metric for any service [116].

Audiomob's SDK is on IAB Tech Lab's Open Measurement SDK (OM SDK) compliance list: status Active, last certified on 3 June 2026, for audio creatives in native ad sessions on Android and iOS [15]. Odeeo says it uses the OM SDK but does not appear on that list [312, 15]. OM SDK compliance certifies the integration that carries measurement signals to verification vendors. It does not certify how ads are counted or whether anyone heard them. Neither row has a counting-assurance score.

Both sellers still point to Moat. Oracle ended all its advertising products and support on 30 September 2024 [346]. Audiomob's Ad Formats page, read on 29 September 2026, still names MOAT among its third-party trackers, beside Open Measurement tags from IAS, HUMAN or DoubleVerify [307]. Odeeo's 2022 MOAT audibility integration lapsed when Moat ended, and its site-wide footer still shows an Oracle MOAT logo [347, 312].

### Retention claims under the registered rule

Both specialists tell developers their ads do not hurt player retention. Audiomob offers "0% retention damage" [308]. Odeeo's developer page says "no impact over retention metrics" [313]. Their case studies repeat the point [348, 349, 350, 351, 352].

Q4's rule was fixed before any study was read. The primary endpoint is day-7 retention, the share of new players active on day 7. The estimand is the difference in day-7 retention between exposed and unexposed players, by assignment. The comparison must be randomised at player level, or use an equivalent randomised geo or cohort design. The confidence level is 95%, two-sided, and the acceptable loss is 1.0 percentage point. A no-harm claim is supported only when the lower 95% confidence bound of the difference is above −1.0 percentage point.

No retention claim found reaches that bar. None states an assignment method, a control condition, a retention window, a sample size, a confidence interval or a control-group retention rate, so each is coded insufficient evidence [308, 313]. Odeeo's full case studies sit behind forms that ask for personal data and were not opened; they may hold method detail that could change a code [351, 352, 353].

Odeeo's own 2022 integration guide is less absolute. It says audio ads have "minimal adverse impact on retention and playtime" and tells developers to run A/B tests to set ad frequency. It publishes no results. The same post also says audio does not negatively affect retention [354]. The guide concedes a possible retention cost that the current developer page does not mention.

The only non-vendor retention study found is a 2016 workshop report by Burns, Roseboom and Ross for the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Funding is not stated and one author worked for DeltaDNA, an analytics provider, so independence is not established. The study is observational and covers in-game ads of all kinds and does not isolate audio. Across 99,620 sampled new users of 21 free-to-play games, installed between 29 June and 7 July 2016, it found a "weak, insignificant effect" of first-session ad density on three retention proxies, none of them day-N retention [355]. Under the registered rule a non-significant observational difference is not evidence of no harm. The authors themselves warn that ad sellers' no-harm claims may reflect selective reporting.

Monetisation claims are vendor-reported too. Audiomob's case studies claim revenue uplifts of 5% to 14% for six developers and 100% for one. Odeeo claimed gains of 4% to 7% in US average revenue per daily active user in 2022, and its case studies give 7% to 10%. None states a baseline, a measurement period or a comparison [349, 356, 357, 358, 354]. A direct test would randomly assign players to ad exposure and report day-7 retention for both arms, the control rate and a confidence interval. This review found no such test in the sources screened by the cutoff.

### Attention claims

The in-game attention evidence found is of three kinds. None is an attention measure in the attention paper's terms. The first is listen-through rate (LTR). Listen-through is completion, not attention; it sits at the opportunity-to-hear layer. Odeeo labels a 90.37% LTR in its McDonald's campaign "strong attention", and its advertisers page claims LTR above 80% [359, 312]. Audiomob's advertiser case studies report LTRs from 73% to 95.2%, with no dates, bases or methods [360].

The second is self-report. Audiomob published a Veritonic survey in its H1 2025 white paper. Veritonic ran it "in partnership with Audiomob", and who paid is not stated. It covered 333 mobile game players, with undisclosed recruitment and no control group. The paper says respondents had heard or interacted with Audiomob's format, yet 20% said they had never heard an in-game audio ad. Of the respondents, 54% preferred audio ads to video ads. Asked how they respond to in-game audio ads, 56% said they skip the ad if possible [361]. In the same survey 30% said they recall ads from mobile games, against 32% for television; the white paper's caption still calls the 30% higher than other media [361]. Self-reported recall sits at the memory layer.

The third is assertion. Odeeo's chief executive said in 2023 that mobile games hold "as close to 100% of the listener's attention as possible" [362]. No construct, reference label or validation is named. Audiomob's September 2026 post keeps the opportunity to hear apart from attention, but adds no measurement [363]. This review found no auditory attention study of in-game audio in the sources screened by the cutoff.

Outcome claims follow the same pattern. Odeeo reports a 50% lift in installs for McDonald's, "independently verified by Claritas". Audiomob reports 27% recall for a UK government campaign. Neither publishes the design, the control or the sample [359, 364]. A measurement vendor hired by an interested party does not make a result independent.

Every public claim this review coded is insufficient evidence: 19 audio attention, memory and intrusiveness claims, 13 in-game retention claims and 6 in-game attention claims. Insufficient is not refuted. Chapter 7 charts the three groups.



## 10. AI voices and agentic buying


*Several large audio sellers offer tools that voice ads with AI, and one documents how the voice owner consents. Agentic buying protocols can describe audio, and one small audio campaign bought by software agents has been announced.*

> **In short.**
> Spotify, AdsWizz, Amazon and SiriusXM Media offer tools that write or voice audio ads with AI. Of these, only SiriusXM Media's Narrativ voice replicas document opt-in by the voice actor and approval of each ad. iHeartMedia's Guaranteed Human policy, as reported, says every voice heard on its stations must be human, but its order terms accept AI-made ad materials under warranties. One producer of AI-generated podcasts reports thousands of episodes a week with programmatic ads attached. This review found no seller, ad-tech or buyer policy that excludes or labels such shows as ad inventory, in the sources screened. AdCP v3.1.24 represents audio in its published schema. IAB Tech Lab's OpenProposal 3.0 draft lists audio as a channel but has no audio format entries. The one documented agentic audio transaction found is a pilot by Butler/Till with iHeartMedia worth just under $10,000, and its release names no protocol. Under the registered rule H6 is supported, and protocol readiness and deal flow are separate tracks.

This chapter covers two uses of AI. The first is voices: tools that write scripts and produce voiceovers, and shows made by AI that carry ads. The second is agentic buying, in which a buyer's software agent and a seller's agent negotiate and book a campaign. Synthetic voice with controls counts toward the creative dimension, and protocol states are recorded under programmatic access.

### Synthetic voice tools and what they document

Spotify announced free AI-generated scripts and voiceovers in Spotify Ads Manager on 2 April 2025. Its US help page says the voiceovers use Spotify's own text-to-speech (TTS) service, with North American and British accents, and that the Ad Review team reviews each ad by hand. Read through a summarising fetch tool, the page states no listener-disclosure requirement and no voice-consent control [365, 366].

AdsWizz, owned by SiriusXM, launched Synthetic Voice Ads on 15 February 2024 in AudioGO, its self-serve platform for small and mid-sized businesses. Brands choose among artificial voices. The release describes no consent, disclosure or approval controls. This review did not recheck the product's status after that date [367].

Amazon Ads introduced Audio generator on 15 October 2024, in beta for US advertisers buying through Amazon DSP, its demand-side platform. It writes a script from an Amazon product page and returns a 30-second interactive audio ad for Alexa-enabled devices, at no added cost. The advertiser picks the voice and tone. The product page speaks of "voiceover talent" and does not say whether the voices are synthetic [368, 369].

SiriusXM Media announced on 17 June 2025 that advertisers would soon be able to use AI voice replicas from Narrativ in AdMaker, its self-service tool. Voice actors opt in and are paid to license their replicas. They can approve or reject every ad that uses their voice, and each ad needs approval from both the actor and the advertiser before it runs. A spokesperson told Radio World the technology was in beta testing [370, 371]. This review found no general-availability notice in the sources opened.

Instreamatic and AMA, creative vendors listed but not scored, document AI variation at scale. Instreamatic's Contextual Audio Ads, launched 29 March 2023, synthesise the original voice actor's voice to produce "hundreds or thousands of ad variations" in one campaign. That is a voice clone, which makes missing consent terms more material. AMA's Studio.AI, launched 14 June 2023, matches voice elements to scripts and personalises ads by location, weather and device. Neither release, read through a summarising tool, documents voice-consent or listener-disclosure controls [372, 373].

Among the seller tools opened, SiriusXM Media's Narrativ offer alone documents opt-in and per-ad approval. The difference is in what vendors publish and may not hold in practice. Chapter 11 sets out the disclosure rules. New York's synthetic-performer advertising law, in force from 9 June 2026, exempts audio advertisements [374, 375]. This review found no US federal or state rule that requires a commercial, non-political audio ad to disclose a synthetic voice, in the sources screened by the cutoff.

### iHeartMedia's Guaranteed Human policy

iHeartMedia is the only audio seller found with a written commitment to human voices. Radio Ink reported the policy on 1 December 2025 from an internal memo; the memo itself was not seen. As reported, it prohibits AI-generated on-air personalities, synthetic music and AI podcast content, and says every voice heard on iHeart stations must be human, including hosted segments, liners and imaging. Stations carry "Guaranteed Human" in their hourly legal IDs. Staff may use AI behind the scenes. Radio Ink added that it was unclear how the policy would affect iHeart's plans to use AI to translate podcasts [376, 377].

The reported rule does not name advertising. Read literally, "every voice heard" could reach ads, but no iHeart source applies it to them. iHeartMedia's fiscal 2025 10-K lists Guaranteed Human among its 2025 launches. Its order terms, dated 22 September 2026, accept advertiser materials made with generative AI, synthetic performers or digital replicas, subject to warranties on disclosure, likeness consent, union rules and truthful claims. This paper infers that the documented policy does not exclude AI-made ads [66, 378].

The policy covers what iHeart airs and publishes. Podnews reports that Inception Point AI's new shows are hosted on Spreaker, which iHeartMedia owns [379]. Hosting is a different service from ad sales, and no source opened shows iHeart selling ads on those shows.

### AI-generated podcasts as inventory

Inception Point AI is the most documented producer of AI-generated podcasts. Its figures come from the company, relayed by trade press. The Hollywood Reporter wrote in September 2025 that it had more than 5,000 shows and more than 3,000 episodes a week, each costing $1 or less and carrying programmatic advertising. At about 20 listens an episode made a profit before overhead [380]. TheWrap reported in November 2025 at least 175,000 episodes and 12 million lifetime downloads [381]. Downloads are a delivery count and do not show listening (chapter 4). The sellers behind the programmatic ads are not named. Inception Point claimed iHeartRadio as a monetisation partner. iHeart representatives told TheWrap they did not recognise it.

Podnews reported on 15 April 2026, from the Podcast Index New Feeds Report, that 44.6% of new shows in the previous 24 hours were "likely legitimate" and 45.7% potentially made by AI. Inception Point released 325 new shows in one day, hosted by Spreaker and monitored by Podtrac. Podnews counted more than 8,000 of its shows still in the index [379]. The classifier is itself AI and unvalidated in the sources opened. The shares describe new feeds on one day. They say nothing about listening, downloads or ad inventory.

This review found no ad seller, ad-tech company or buyer policy that excludes or labels AI-generated podcasts as ad inventory, in the sources screened by the cutoff. It found no source that measures their effect on inventory quality with data. TheWrap reported that Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube do not require creators to disclose AI creation. Its statement that all Inception Point hosts say they are AI is contradicted by Podnews for at least one Spanish-language show [381, 379]. The Podcast Index has an API that flags "low-effort AI" feeds. It is an index tool, and no seller or buyer in the sources opened uses it as an inventory policy.

### What the protocols can describe

H6 tests the author's July 2026 claim that audio is "protocol-ready, deal-flow pending" [382]. Shared rule 12 records five states for each protocol and version: schema representation, an implemented connector, a demonstrated interoperability test, documented production use and a demonstrated transaction. Schema representation shows only that audio can be described.

The Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) is published by AgenticAdvertising.org. Version 3.1.24, released on 23 September 2026, was the latest non-prerelease version on 28 September. Its channel list and its property types both include radio, streaming_audio and podcast [383, 384, 385]. Audio and podcast have been channels since v2.0.0 of 15 October 2025, the first tagged release; radio became a separate value later [386]. Version 3.2.0 was at release candidate 7 on 27 September 2026 and is on the recheck list for the freeze.

AdCP v3.1.24 defines two audio creative formats. One is a hosted file, or a script from which the seller produces a host read or synthesised audio. The other is a tag in DAAST, the Digital Audio Ad Serving Template. A field records whether audio was recorded by the publisher's host or synthesised by an agent, and another lets a creative declare AI involvement [387, 388]. Nothing in the schema verifies what is declared, and this review found no seller documenting its use in the sources screened. AdCP's channel-neutral compliance scenarios name audio sellers optimising for podcast or stream completion and for unique listeners [389]. Its example product "Triton Audio DAAST (30s)", on the domain triton.example, is example data and shows no Triton implementation [390].

IAB Tech Lab announced AAMP 3.0, the third release of its Agentic Advertising Management Protocols, on 22 September 2026. Its new OpenProposal specification (v3.0-draft-1, 24 September 2026) is in public comment until 22 October 2026 and is not a ratified standard. Its line-item channel list includes audio, with an audio example whose identifier, "iheart-audio", is example data. The draft records as an open question that its format registry has no audio entries [391, 392]. A draft earns schema representation as a draft only.

IAB Tech Lab's Seller Agent and Buyer Agent reference code, v2.4.2 of 18 August 2026, both model audio. The Agentic Real Time Framework (ARTF) v1.0 is a final IAB Tech Lab specification released on 12 November 2025; its GitHub release tag is dated 20 July 2026. ARTF works on OpenRTB 2.6 bid requests, which include an audio object, but neither the specification nor its repository mentions audio. Its audio coverage is inherited, which is an inference [393, 394, 395, 396].

### The one documented transaction

On 20 August 2026 the agency Butler/Till and iHeartMedia announced a completed campaign they called the industry's first agentic streaming audio campaign, for a US agricultural solutions company. The release names no protocol. Digiday reported the details the same day. The campaign ran four weeks in July and August 2026 and bought just under $10,000 of iHeart streaming audio and podcast inventory as a direct buy. It used two agents, one built by each company, "designed as a matched pair using an MCP server" [397, 398].

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a general way to connect AI models to tools. AdCP itself runs over MCP; Triton Digital's vice president of architecture described AdCP as a layer that extends it [4]. So the MCP detail neither shows nor excludes AdCP use. The public record links the transaction to no advertising protocol and names no rail. A pilot counts as a demonstrated transaction. It is not documented production use.

The performance figures are the companies' own and unaudited. The release says the buy delivered streaming audio "42 percent more efficiently" than the advertiser's direct-buying benchmark. Digiday reports that as a 42% cut in campaign CPMs, the price per thousand impressions, against the client's own benchmark. In podcasts, 48% of impressions ran in mid-roll, against 33% estimated for the traditional plan [397, 398]. A lower CPM is a price outcome, and the comparison is with a benchmark, not a controlled test. iHeartMedia said it plans to offer broadcast radio through agentic transactions "later this year". That is an announcement and earns no state [397]. On 16 September 2026 Magnite said its orchestration layer standardises buyer-agent requests across live audio streams and podcasts, with access to iHeartMedia inventory. The release names no protocol, date or completed transaction [399].

### Registries, members and declared interests

On 28 September 2026 AgenticAdvertising.org's public agent registry listed 34 agents. None was run by a company in this paper's audio universe, and every entry listed its protocol as MCP [3]. IAB Tech Lab runs its own agent registry, which this review did not screen.

Triton Digital, iHeartMedia's ad-technology subsidiary, is an AdCP founding member. In December 2025 its vice president of architecture said Triton had "a few demo systems in place" and had started building AdCP into its products. In January 2026 a Triton executive welcomed the move of the AdCP sales agent to Prebid. Neither source documents a connector, test, production use or transaction [4, 400].

Amazon Ads opened an MCP server to its Ads API in open beta on 2 February 2026. No source opened shows it creating audio buys [401]. On 29 September 2026 Amazon renamed its unified ad platform Amazon Ads Agent, "now powered by agentic AI", with display, video and audio campaigns in one place. The announcement names no advertising protocol, so it earns no protocol state [402]. Spotify's engineering blog of 1 May 2026 describes an open-source plugin that turns plain-language requests into Spotify Ads API calls, and Spotify's developer documentation lists an Ads API MCP server in closed beta [403, 404]. Both are tooling on proprietary interfaces and earn no protocol state.

For SiriusXM Media and AdsWizz, Spotify, Amazon, Acast, Audacy, Libsyn, Audioboom, Cumulus, Urban One and SoundStack, this review found no documented AdCP or AAMP connector, interoperability test, production use or transaction, in the registry and grouped web searches screened by 28 September 2026. LiveOne/PodcastOne, NPM, TuneIn, DAX US, Audiomob and Odeeo were screened only against the AgenticAdvertising.org registry. The table below gives each row's state and source [3].

Two declared interests bear on this section, and chapter 14 sets them out. The author co-leads the Signals & Measurement working group of AgenticAdvertising.org, which publishes AdCP. Triton Digital is an AdCP founding member. Neither earns any score. Under shared rule 12, membership, working-group roles and announcements earn no protocol state.

**AI and agentic capability map**

| Platform / product | Capability | Status | Date | Independently observable? | What the record supports | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdCP v3.1.24 | Schema represents audio: channels radio, streaming_audio, podcast; audio property types; audio_hosted and audio_daast formats (state 1) | live | 2026-09-23 | public JSON Schema | v3.2.0-rc.7 prerelease 2026-09-27; audio channels present since v2.0.0 (2025-10-15) | [383, 384, 385, 387, 386] |
| IAB Tech Lab OpenProposal 3.0 (AAMP 3.0) | Draft schema: line-item channel enum includes audio; audio example; format registry has no audio entries (state 1, draft) | beta | 2026-09-24 | public draft on GitHub | Not a ratified standard; example id 'iheart-audio' is illustrative | [391, 392] |
| IAB Tech Lab Seller Agent SDK v2.4.2 | Reference implementation models audio as an OpenRTB ad format | live | 2026-08-18 | open-source code | Reference implementation, not a specification | [393] |
| IAB Tech Lab ARTF v1.0 | Agent services on OpenRTB 2.6 bid requests; audio inherited from OpenRTB 2.6 (inference) | live | 2025-11-12 | open-source code | Operates on OpenRTB 2.6 bid requests, which include an audio object; neither the specification nor its repository mentions audio (inference). Corrected by the stream verifier. | [521, 395, 396] |
| AgenticAdvertising.org agent registry | Registered agents operated by audio-universe companies: none of 34 | live | 2026-09-28 | public API | Registration needs AAO membership; not a census | [3] |
| iHeartMedia (with Butler/Till) | Demonstrated transaction (state 5): paired buyer and seller agents over an MCP server; direct buy of streaming audio and podcast; just under $10,000; four weeks | beta | 2026-08-20 | press release and trade report | No AdCP or AAMP named; efficiency claims unaudited | [397, 398] |
| iHeartMedia broadcast radio via agentic transactions | Planned availability of broadcast radio to agentic buying | announced | 2026-08-20 | press release | Earns no state | [397] |
| Triton Digital | AdCP founding member; 'a few demo systems in place'; building AdCP into products | unconfirmed | 2025-12-10 | interview | Membership and demos earn no state | [4, 400] |
| Amazon Ads MCP Server | Vendor MCP connector to the Amazon Ads API (not an advertising protocol); DSP audio coverage not shown | beta | 2026-02-02 | vendor page | Available globally to partners with API credentials | [401] |
| Amazon DSP Campaign Management APIs | Audio ad-group inventory type, creatives, deals and reporting via API | live | 2026-06-11 | API release notes (secondary report) | Programmatic API, not agentic protocol | [522] |
| Spotify Ads API Claude Code plugin | Open-source natural-language agent tooling for the Spotify Ads API v3; deliberately not MCP | live | 2026-05 | vendor engineering blog; open source | Proprietary API; no protocol state | [403] |
| Spotify Ads Manager gen AI script and voiceover | AI script and TTS voiceover; manual ad review | live | 2025-04-02 | vendor pages | No listener-disclosure requirement stated on help page | [365, 366] |
| AdsWizz Synthetic Voice Ads (AudioGO) | Artificial voices for SMB self-serve audio ads | live | 2024-02-15 | press release | Current status not rechecked; no consent or disclosure controls described | [367] |
| SiriusXM Media AdMaker with Narrativ voice replicas | Opt-in, paid voice-actor replicas; actor can approve or reject every ad; actor and advertiser approve each ad | beta | 2025-06-17 | press release and trade report | Status after June 2025 not found | [370, 371] |
| Amazon Ads Audio generator | Script from product page; 30-second interactive audio ad; advertiser picks voice and tone | beta | 2024-10-15 | press release and product page | Beta status at freeze not verified | [368, 369] |
| AMA Studio.AI | Matches voice elements to scripts; dynamic personalisation by triggers | live | 2023-06-14 | vendor release | No consent or disclosure controls in release | [373] |
| Instreamatic Contextual Audio Ads | Generative AI and synthetic voice variations from one recording | live | 2023-03-29 | vendor release | No consent or disclosure controls in release | [372] |
| iHeartMedia Guaranteed Human | Commitment: no AI-generated on-air personalities, synthetic music or AI podcast content | live | 2025-12-01 | trade report of memo; vendor article | Coverage of ad creative not stated | [376, 377] |

### How H6 reads

The registered rule calls H6 supported when at least one protocol's published schema represents audio and no more than two rows have documented production use or a demonstrated transaction. AdCP v3.1.24 represents audio in its published schema. One row, iHeartMedia, has a documented transaction: the Butler/Till campaign announced as completed on 20 August 2026, whose release names no protocol. H6 is supported under the registered rule.

Protocol readiness and deal flow are separate tracks on the public record. The schema work sits in AdCP and in IAB Tech Lab's specifications. The one transaction ran on a pair of agents whose protocol the sources do not name. The essay's July 2026 statement that no public agentic audio campaign existed was accurate at its date and was overtaken on 20 August 2026. "Pending" now rests on the rule's threshold rather than on absence. The reading holds only within the searches described above, and it would change if three or more rows documented production use or a transaction.



## 11. The rules


*Few US rules were written for audio advertising. Host reads, IP-based measurement, children's audio and synthetic voices are governed mostly by general instruments, and this chapter sets out what each required at the cutoff.*

> **In short.**
> The Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides carry a podcast example: an obvious host-read commercial needs no payment disclosure, but the host must hold any views presented as their own. The only FTC enforcement on audio endorsements this review found is the Google and iHeartMedia case over nearly 29,000 radio reads for the Pixel 4, settled in February 2023. The Federal Communications Commission's sponsorship identification rule binds broadcast stations, and its text does not reach podcasts. California law counts IP addresses and household-linked data as personal information. The opt-out signals regulators name have no documented path to podcast downloads made through third-party apps. The amended children's privacy rule took effect on 23 June 2025 with compliance due by 22 April 2026, and the FTC places ad attribution within support for internal operations. California requires a spoken AI disclosure in committee political radio ads that contain AI-generated or substantially altered audio. For commercial audio ads, this review found no US rule requiring disclosure of a synthetic voice in the sources screened, and New York's synthetic-performer law exempts audio advertisements.

This chapter reads the regulators' own texts where they could be opened. Law-firm summaries are used only where a primary text was not read, and are labelled. Nothing here is legal advice.

**Rules and governance instruments**

| Jurisdiction | Instrument | What it requires | Effective | Scope | Law or practice | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global (WFA) | GARM Brand Safety Floor and Suitability (Adjacency Standards) Framework | Voluntary floor and risk-level categories for brand safety; discontinued with GARM on 9 Aug 2024 | 2020-09 to 2024-08-09 (discontinued) | Advertisers, platforms and verification vendors; cited by audio sellers | industry framework (discontinued) | [259, 267] |
| Global (WFA) | WFA and X Corp. settlement | WFA will not form or restart GARM or a similar initiative (as reported) | 2026-07 (reported 29 Jul 2026) | WFA | litigation settlement commitment | [261] |
| Global (IAB Tech Lab) | IAB Tech Lab Content Taxonomy 3.1, Sensitive Topics branch | Eleven category labels for sensitive content; no risk levels in the file | 2024-12 (release) | Content classification in OpenRTB and VAST signals | technical standard | [263, 262] |
| US (MRC) | MRC Supplement: Enhanced Content Level Context and Brand Safety (Final) | Content-level measurement must go beyond keywords and consider images, video, text and audio; basis for MRC accreditation of verification services | 2018-09 | Ad verification organisations (third-party measurers, platforms, publishers) | accreditation standard | [257] |
| United States (federal) | FTC Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255 (revised 2023) | Endorsements must reflect honest views of bona fide users; unexpected material connections disclosed clearly and conspicuously, in the audible portion for audio; obvious host-read commercials need no payment disclosure but host must hold views expressed | Published 26 Jul 2023 (88 FR 48102) | All advertising media incl. radio and podcasts; advertisers and endorsers | Administrative interpretation of FTC Act s.5 (guides, not a rule) | [405] |
| United States (federal) | FCC sponsorship identification, 47 CFR 73.1212(a)-(f) | Broadcast station must announce at time of broadcast that paid matter is sponsored and by whom; naming sponsor or product suffices once per broadcast for commercial ads | Codified 1975, amended to 2026 | Broadcast radio and TV stations (not podcasts by the text) | Regulation | [411] |
| United States (federal) | FCC foreign-government sponsorship disclosure, 47 CFR 73.1212(j)-(k) | Disclosure naming foreign governmental entity and country at start and end of leased-time programming and at least hourly; diligence inquiries and certification or screenshots; quarterly public-file uploads | Effective 19 Jul 2021; compliance 15 Mar 2022; (j)(8),(k) 15 Aug 2024; (j)(3) effective 10 Jun 2025, lease compliance 7 Jun 2026, technical requirements for covered ads and paid PSAs suspended two years (DA 26-526); (j)(8) foreign-adversary filing awaits OMB (freeze recheck) | Broadcast stations airing leased time; section 325(c) permit holders | Regulation | [411, 412, 413, 415, 416] |
| United States (federal) | COPPA Rule, 16 CFR Part 312, as amended 2025 | Verifiable parental consent before collecting children's personal information (incl. IP address, device ID, voice audio, voiceprints); separate consent for third-party disclosure; contextual ads and frequency capping allowed under internal-operations exception; audio-file exception | Published 22 Apr 2025; effective 23 Jun 2025; compliance 22 Apr 2026 (safe-harbor items separate) | Operators of child-directed services, or with actual knowledge of under-13 users | Regulation | [429, 428, 427] |
| United States (California) | CCPA definitions, Civ. Code 1798.140 | Personal information includes IP addresses, device and probabilistic identifiers, and household-linked data; 'sharing' = disclosure for cross-context behavioral advertising | Current text effective 1 Jan 2026 | Businesses meeting CCPA thresholds; California consumers and households | Statute | [225] |
| United States (California) | CCPA regulations, 11 CCR 7025 (opt-out preference signals) | Treat compliant opt-out preference signal as opt-out of sale/sharing for the browser or device and associated profiles, including pseudonymous profiles | Package effective 1 Jan 2026 | Businesses that sell or share personal information and collect it online | Regulation | [419, 226] |
| United States (California) | California Opt Me Out Act, AB 566 (Civ. Code 1798.136) | Browsers must offer a consumer-configurable opt-out preference signal | Approved 8 Oct 2025; applies from 1 Jan 2027 | Businesses that develop or maintain a browser (apps not named) | Statute | [227] |
| United States (Colorado) | Colorado Privacy Act universal opt-out (C.R.S. 6-1-1306(1)(a)(IV)) | Honour Global Privacy Control as opt-out of sale and targeted advertising; GPC is the only recognised mechanism | 1 Jul 2024 | Controllers meeting CPA thresholds | Statute and AG guidance | [420] |
| United States (Virginia model) | Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, Va. Code 59.1-575, -577, -581 | Personal data = linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person; opt-out of targeted advertising, sale, profiling; pseudonymous data exempt from access/correct/delete/portability only | Law effective 1 Jan 2023; amended to 2025 | Controllers meeting thresholds; Virginia residents | Statute | [421, 523, 422, 423] |
| United States (19 states in effect; 4 more enacted 2026) | US state comprehensive privacy laws (count) | 19 in effect at cutoff, 17 flagged with a targeted-advertising/profiling opt-out; Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Vermont enacted 2026 | In effect by 1 Jan 2026; new laws 1 Jan 2027 to 1 Jan 2028 | Controllers meeting each state's thresholds | Statutes (count from trackers) | [423, 424] |
| United States (state design codes) | State age-appropriate design codes (CA, MD, NE, SC, VT) | Duties on services likely accessed by minors (profiling, dark patterns, geolocation limits vary by state) | MD 1 Oct 2024; SC 5 Feb 2026; NE amended 17 Jul 2026; VT 1 Jan 2027; CA partly enjoined | Online services likely accessed by minors; no audio-specific provision reported | Statutes (secondary summary) | [524] |
| United States (Tennessee) | ELVIS Act, HB 2091, Public Chapter 588 | Adds 'voice' as a protected personal right against unauthorised commercial use | Signed 21 Mar 2024; Public Chapter 588 dated 26 Mar 2024; effective 1 Jul 2024 (review round 3, R3-11) | Commercial use of an individual's voice or likeness in Tennessee | Statute | [431] |
| United States (federal) | NO FAKES Act of 2025 (S. 1367 / H.R. 2794) | Would create a federal right in voice and visual likeness (proposal) | Introduced 9 Apr 2025, no later action; successor S. 4591 (NO FAKES Act of 2026) reported by Senate Judiciary 24 Jun 2026 and on the Senate calendar, no floor vote by 30 Sep 2026 (freeze recheck) | Proposed, not law | Bill (proposal) | [432, 433] |
| United States (federal) | FCC Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17 (TCPA and AI voices) | AI-generated voices are 'artificial or prerecorded voice' under the TCPA; prior express consent needed | Adopted 2 Feb 2024; released 8 Feb 2024 | Telephone calls, not broadcast or streaming ads | Agency ruling | [436] |
| United States (federal) | FCC NPRM FCC 24-84 (AI-generated call disclosure) | Proposes definition of AI-generated calls and caller disclosure (proposal) | Published 10 Sep 2024; no final rule found at cutoff | Telephone calls | Proposed rule | [525] |
| United States (federal) | FCC NPRM FCC 24-74, MB Docket 24-211 (AI in political ads) | Proposes on-air disclosure of AI-generated content in political ads by broadcast radio, TV, cable, DBS and SDARS (proposal) | Published 5 Aug 2024; comments closed 19 Sep 2024, replies 11 Oct 2024 (DA 24-849); no termination and no later FR document at 30 Sep 2026 (freeze recheck) | Political ads on broadcast and satellite radio, TV, cable, DBS | Proposed rule | [437] |
| United States (New York) | Synthetic performer ad disclosure, S8420-A (GBL 396-b), Chapter 617 of 2025 | Conspicuous disclosure of synthetic performers in ads where advertiser has actual knowledge; audio-only ads exempt | Signed 11 Dec 2025; effective 9 Jun 2026 | Commercial advertisements with audiovisual or visual synthetic performers | Statute | [374, 375] |
| European Union | AI Act transparency obligations (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Art. 50) as applied | Disclose AI interaction; label deepfakes incl. audio; machine-readable marks on AI-generated or altered content | Applies and enforced from 2 Aug 2026; Art. 50(2) marking for generative systems on the market before 2 Aug 2026 from 2 Dec 2026 under the AI Omnibus, per the Commission FAQ (freeze recheck) | Providers and deployers of certain AI systems (EU context) | Regulation | [440, 441] |
| United States (industry) | IAB Tech Lab Podcast Guidance: Platform Privacy Restrictions (2022) | Describes IP-address use for de-duplication, fraud filtering and geo-targeting; asks apps to pass privacy signals to podcasters | Released Jul 2022 | Podcast publishers, hosts and apps (voluntary) | Industry guidance | [228] |

### Host reads and endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the US consumer-protection regulator. Its Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255, were revised in a text published on 26 July 2023. They interpret Section 5 of the FTC Act, which bars deceptive practices, and say they provide the basis for voluntary compliance [405].

The Guides address podcasts directly. In Example 12 to section 255.5, a host reads what is obviously a commercial near the start of a show. No disclosure of payment is needed. If the wording suggests the host is giving their own views, the host must actually hold them. A separate social-media mention by the same host is judged on its own [405]. Where a claim is made through sound, any needed disclosure must be made at least in the audible portion, at a volume, speed and cadence ordinary listeners can follow. An unexpected material connection must be disclosed when "a significant minority of the audience" does not expect it. Advertisers are liable for their endorsers' misleading statements. The Guides do not name networks, sales houses or ad-insertion platforms, so this text does not settle their exposure [405].

The FTC also has a trade regulation rule on reviews and testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, in effect since 21 October 2024. Section 465.2 bars disseminating a celebrity testimonial that materially misrepresents that the testimonialist used the product. Unlike the Guides, the rule carries civil penalties [406]. The research stream missed it and its verifier added it. On this review's reading, which is inference, the rule could reach a well-known personality's read for a product that person has not used. No case has tested that reading in the sources screened.

### The one audio endorsement case

In November 2022 the FTC and several states sued Google and iHeartMedia. The case concerned nearly 29,000 first-person endorsements of the Pixel 4 phone, aired in 2019 and 2020 by radio personalities. The FTC alleged the personalities had not been given the phones before recording and airing the majority of the ads. The FTC approved final consent orders on 9 February 2023 by a 4-0 vote. Separate state judgments required $9.4 million in penalties; the sum is the states', and the allegations were settled without adjudication [407, 408].

On 28 September 2026 a search of the FTC's Legal Library for "podcast", "podcaster" and "host-read" returned no case. A search for "radio endorsement" returned the Google matter. Warning letters and closing letters were not searched separately [409, 410]. So this review found no FTC enforcement on podcast endorsements in the sources screened by the cutoff. Podcasts remain exposed all the same. The Guides apply to them by their own example.

### Sponsorship identification on broadcast stations

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses US broadcast stations. Its sponsorship identification rule, 47 CFR 73.1212, binds them. A station that airs paid matter must announce at the time of broadcast that it is sponsored and by whom. For commercial products, naming the sponsor or product once per broadcast is enough. On this review's reading, the text does not reach podcasts or other audio outside broadcast. Whether satellite radio carries equivalent duties under other rules was not checked [411].

Separate rules cover foreign-government programming on leased airtime, and they came in stages. They reach advertisements only where a foreign government provides the material. The 2021 order took effect on 19 July 2021, with compliance from 15 March 2022. By the FCC's account, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated only the duty to check lessees against two federal sources on 12 July 2022. A second order made paragraph (k) effective on 15 August 2024, with the paragraph then numbered (j)(8), an exemption for candidates' "uses" of stations now numbered (j)(9). Its diligence procedure in (j)(3) took effect on 10 June 2025, with compliance for leases deferred to 7 June 2026. For covered advertisements and paid public service announcements, a Media Bureau notice of 26 May 2026 suspended the (j)(3) technical requirements for two years [412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417]. The disclosure must name the foreign government entity and country, at the start and end of the programme and at least every sixty minutes in longer ones. A new (j)(8), added by the FCC's foreign-adversary control rule, has been effective since 9 June 2026. It requires filings that identify a foreign-adversary lessee, but compliance waits until the FCC announces a date after review by the Office of Management and Budget [411, 418].

### Privacy law and IP-based measurement

An IP address is the network address a device uses to fetch a file. In chapter 6, H3 is supported: IP, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 products that document one (91.7%), and 11 of 19 with undocumented products added (57.9%); four products list several methods and are reported apart. The rules below do not move that verdict. They bear on what the matching may do with the data.

California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) covers information reasonably capable of being linked to "a particular consumer or household". It lists IP addresses among identifiers. A household is consumers who share a residential address and use of common devices or services. Unique identifiers include IP addresses, pixel tags, mobile ad identifiers and probabilistic identifiers [225]. "Sharing" is disclosure to a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising, paid or not [225]. Under California's regulations, a business that sells or shares must treat an opt-out preference signal as an opt-out for that browser or device. The opt-out extends to associated profiles, "including pseudonymous profiles" [226, 419].

The signals live in browsers and device settings. Colorado has required covered businesses since 1 July 2024 to honour the Global Privacy Control (GPC), which its Department of Law recognises as the only valid universal opt-out [420]. California's Opt Me Out Act, Assembly Bill (AB) 566, will from 1 January 2027 bar a business from maintaining a browser without an opt-out signal. It defines a browser as software used to navigate internet websites. On this review's reading, it does not reach a podcast app that does not navigate websites [227].

Many other state laws follow Virginia's model, which has no household category. There, pseudonymous data keeps the right to opt out of targeted advertising [421, 422]. By the definition of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), 19 states had comprehensive privacy laws in effect at the cutoff, per its chart dated 24 November 2025. A Venable law-firm update of 30 July 2026 reports four more enacted in the first half of 2026, effective from 2027 or 2028. Later enactments were not checked [423, 424].

The one state enforcement case on streaming opt-outs found by this review that names a company concerns video. California's January 2024 sweep of "popular streaming apps and devices" named no recipients and gave video examples. It led to a $2.75 million settlement with Disney on 11 February 2026 over opt-outs not applied across devices and services. Whether audio services received sweep letters is not public [425, 426]. This review found no regulator guidance or enforcement specific to podcast or audio measurement in the sources screened by the cutoff. Releases from other state attorneys general were not screened.

The industry's own account shows where the gap sits. IAB Tech Lab is the technical standards body of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Its July 2022 podcast guidance says measurement mostly represents what the server delivered. IP addresses filter duplicate downloads, detect non-human traffic and set the location for inserted ads. Combined with other tracking data, an IP address "can identify a listener". Privacy-preference signals reach podcasters only in the limited cases where they have a relationship with the listening app. The guidance comes from the industry whose practice it describes, and it predates current guideline versions [228].

Put together, and labelled as inference: IP and household matching handles data California treats as personal information. Passed to a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising, it is sharing, subject to opt-out signals. Measurement not used for targeting may instead be a sale or a service-provider disclosure, depending on contracts that are not public. Podcast apps fetch episodes from RSS feeds, the open format that publishes a show. The signal channels regulators name have no documented path to those downloads [225, 226, 227, 228].

### Children's audio

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule governs services directed to children under 13, and others with actual knowledge of such users. Its amendments were published on 22 April 2025, took effect on 23 June 2025 and required compliance by 22 April 2026, except for three safe-harbor provisions [427, 428]. Personal information includes an IP address or device identifier and an audio file of a child's voice. Since 2025 it also includes voiceprints. "Music or other audio content" is among the factors for judging whether a service is directed to children [429, 428].

Operators need separate parental consent before disclosing a child's data to third parties, unless disclosure is integral to the service. Persistent identifiers may be used without consent for "support for the internal operations". That covers contextual ads and frequency capping, and excludes behavioural advertising and profiling [429, 428]. The FTC states in the 2025 final rule that ad attribution also falls within that definition. Attribution therefore needs no consent if the identifier is not used to contact the child, for behavioural advertising or to build a profile, and the operator's notice names the purpose [428, 429]. The research stream had inferred the opposite. Its verifier found the FTC's statement, and the inference was rebuilt on it. Whether a third-party vendor's IP matching stays within the limits is untested. This review found no FTC statement or case applying COPPA to podcasts in the sources screened.

The amendments also codified an audio-file exception. An operator may collect a child's voice recording without consent only to answer the child's request, and must delete it straight afterwards [429, 428]. That matters more for smart speakers than for ad delivery. On 31 May 2023 the FTC and the Department of Justice charged Amazon under COPPA over its retention of children's Alexa voice recordings; the proposed order carried a $25 million civil penalty [430].

### Synthetic voices

Tennessee's ELVIS Act added voice as a protected personal right. The legislature's record shows the Governor signed it on 21 March 2024, and it took effect on 1 July 2024 [431]. The research stream first gave 26 March, the date the act became Public Chapter 588; its verifier corrected it. The federal NO FAKES Act would create a right in a person's voice and likeness. The 2025 bills, introduced on 9 April 2025, went no further than referral. Their successor, S. 4591, was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on 24 June 2026 and had no floor vote by the cutoff [432, 433, 434, 435].

The one adopted federal action on AI voices found by this review concerns telephone calls. In February 2024 the FCC confirmed that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) limits on "artificial or prerecorded voice" cover AI-generated voices, so such calls need prior express consent [436]. For political ads, an FCC proposal published on 5 August 2024 would require an on-air disclosure of AI-generated content. It would bind broadcasters, cable and satellite TV operators, and satellite radio licensees that originate programming. Comments closed on 19 September 2024 and replies on 11 October 2024. The docket shows no termination and no final rule [437, 438]. California already has such a rule. AB 2355, approved on 17 September 2024, requires a committee's political ad containing AI-generated or altered image, audio or video to carry a disclosure, spoken clearly on radio. Its litigation status was not checked [439].

New York's synthetic-performer law (Chapter 617) has been in force since 9 June 2026. It requires a conspicuous disclosure when whoever produces an ad knows it contains a synthetic performer. It exempts "audio advertisements" and the media publishers that disseminate ads [374, 375]. The exemption's statutory wording was seen only through summarising fetches.

The research stream first concluded that no US rule requires any audio ad to disclose a synthetic voice. AB 2355 contradicts that for political ads. The corrected finding is narrower: at the cutoff, this review found no US federal or state rule requiring a commercial audio ad to disclose that its voice is synthetic, in the sources screened. Other states' election-deepfake laws were not screened. The FTC's deception authority could still reach an undisclosed synthetic endorser case by case [374, 437, 436, 431, 439].

The EU is context. Its AI Act transparency obligations began to apply on 2 August 2026. Deepfakes, which the European Commission says include AI-generated or edited audio, must be labelled, and AI-generated content must carry machine-readable marks. Under the AI Omnibus, in force from 27 July 2026, providers of generative systems already on the market before 2 August 2026 must add the machine-readable marks only from 2 December 2026, according to the Commission's FAQ; deepfake labelling has no such delay [440, 441, 442]. Chapter 10 describes how sellers use synthetic voices.



## 12. The Listen Quotient


*The Listen Quotient (LQ) turns the capability matrix into bands inside each of the paper's two cohorts. It summarises what the public record documents about a product. It does not measure how well the product works.*

> **In short.**
> The matrix scores 24 audio inventory sellers and 10 audio ad-technology services against anchors fixed before scoring, and only verified or qualified cells count. The seller field score is 44 and the ad-technology field score is 58. Each cohort is banded against its own field, so no row is compared across cohorts. Acast, Spotify and SiriusXM Media clear the Most documented line among sellers. Acast is the only seller whose counting assurance reaches the top anchor, on an IAB Tech Lab certification dated 18 February 2026. Spotify gets there on documented measurement and a public API, and SiriusXM Media on national reach sold by a sales group its parent's 10-K names [34]. No ad-technology row reaches Most documented. 19 of the 24 seller bands are provisional, because they move when missing cells are filled, and 3 bands are provisional because a blind second scorer would move them. Sellers are weakest on buyer workflow, optimisation, measurement and transparency, and most radio groups have no scoreable brand-safety record.

LQ summarises publicly documented capability within a cohort. It does not measure product performance.

### What a cell means

The matrix has one row per named product and 12 dimensions in three groups. Depth covers targeting, creative, measurement, optimisation and buyer workflow. Reach covers inventory scale, channel breadth, programmatic access and US coverage. Standing covers counting assurance, transparency and brand safety.

Cohort A is audio inventory sellers: radio groups, streaming and podcast sellers, and in-game audio sellers, each selling inventory it owns or represents under contract. Cohort B is audio ad technology: separately supplied hosting, insertion, ad-serving, exchange or supply-side platform (SSP) services. Each cohort has a mask, the list of dimensions that apply to every row in it. Sellers use all 12. Ad technology uses every dimension except creative, because these services do not produce ad creative. A cell outside the mask reads n/a, and that label is never assigned row by row.

A cell is a score from 0 to 5 against the dimension's own anchors, written before any product was scored and stated with numeric thresholds. A seller earns 5 on inventory scale, for example, with 500 or more US stations. A 0 needs a source that documents absence or failure. Where the opened record gives no basis to score, the cell reads n/e; missing evidence never scores 0. Evidence grades then cap the score: vendor documentation caps a cell at 4 and vendor marketing at 3. A grade can lower a cell and never raise it. So a cell reads as documented capability discounted for the type of its evidence, not capability alone. Spotify's workflow meets the anchor for 5 on its own API documentation and scores 4 for that reason [443]. The matrix gives each cell's grade, so the two can be read apart; this edition does not publish a separate confidence score (review round 4, R4-02). The scale anchors also treat different units as equal: 500 US stations, a monthly US audience of 100 million and one billion monthly deliveries all earn 5. Those equivalences are the author's assumptions, fixed before scoring, not measured comparisons.

Each cell records its grade, date, reason, sources and verification status, and only cells a verifier re-checked, as verified or qualified, count. An unverified cell is shown but treated as n/e. 1 cell is in that state, Hubbard Radio's workflow; Libsyn's inventory scale was verified in the round-5 adjudication. Of the matrix's 408 cells, 350 carry a score, 48 are n/e and 10 are n/a.

**The capability matrix** (0–5 evidence-bounded scores; n/e = insufficient evidence; n/a = outside the cohort’s mask; unverified cells are marked and counted as n/e; availability, evidence grade and verification status per cell are in data/capability-matrix-long.csv; one section per cohort; banded products ordered by LQ, the Listen Quotient, within their cohort, and unbanded rows listed A to Z)

*A. Audio inventory sellers*

| Vendor | Product | Group | LQ (band) | Targeting | Creative | Measure | Optimise | Workflow | Scale | Channels | Prog. | US | Assurance | Transp. | Safety | Counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | Spotify Advertising | digital | 62 (Most documented) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 12/12 |
| Acast | Acast podcast advertising network | digital | 59 (Most documented) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12/12 |
| SiriusXM Media | SiriusXM Media | radio | 59 (Most documented) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 12/12 |
| iHeartMedia | iHeartMedia audio advertising | radio | 56 (Well documented, provisional: Well documented with n/e = 1, Most documented with n/e = 4) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | n/e | 11/12 |
| National Public Media | National Public Media sponsorship | radio | 54 (Well documented) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12/12 |
| Libsyn | Libsyn Ads | digital | 49 (Well documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | n/e | 11/12 |
| Cumulus Media | Cumulus Media (including Westwood One) | radio | 48 (Well documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | n/e | 10/12 |
| Audioboom | Audioboom advertising | digital | 48 (Well documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 3 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 2 | n/e | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10/12 |
| Amazon | Amazon Ads audio ads | digital | 47 (Well documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | n/e | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | n/e | 10/12 |
| Beasley Broadcast Group | Beasley Broadcast Group | radio | 45 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 3 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | n/e | 10/12 |
| PodcastOne | PodcastOne | digital | 44 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | n/e | 11/12 |
| Odeeo | Odeeo | ingame | 43 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | n/e | 2 | n/e | 10/12 |
| Audiomob | Audiomob | ingame | 42 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | n/e | 2 | n/e | 10/12 |
| Salem Media | Salem Media Group | radio | 42 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 3 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | n/e | 10/12 |
| Hubbard Radio | Hubbard Radio | radio | 40 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | n/e | n/e | 1 | n/e | 1 (unverified) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | n/e | 7/12 |
| DAX US (Global) | DAX US | digital | 40 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | n/e | 2 | n/e | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | n/e | 1 | n/e | 8/12 |
| Urban One | Urban One radio | radio | 39 (Partly documented) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 11/12 |
| Bonneville International | Bonneville International | radio | 38 (Partly documented, provisional: Least documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | n/e | 2 | 1 | n/e | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 9/12 |
| Cox Media Group | Cox Media Group radio | radio | 37 (Partly documented, provisional: Least documented with n/e = 1, Partly documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | 2 | 1 | n/e | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 10/12 |
| Audacy | Audacy | radio | 37 (Partly documented, provisional: Partly documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | n/e | 1 | n/e | 10/12 |
| TelevisaUnivision | TelevisaUnivision audio | radio | 37 (Partly documented, provisional: Least documented with n/e = 1, Partly documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | 1 | 1 | n/e | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 10/12 |
| MediaCo | Mediaco | radio | 35 (Least documented, provisional: Least documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | n/e | 1 | n/e | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | n/e | 9/12 |
| Saga Communications | Saga Communications | radio | 33 (Least documented, provisional: Least documented with n/e = 1, Well documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | n/e | 1 | n/e | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | n/e | 1 | n/e | 8/12 |
| Townsquare Media | Townsquare Media | radio | 32 (Least documented, provisional: Least documented with n/e = 1, Partly documented with n/e = 4) | 1 | n/e | 1 | n/e | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | n/e | 9/12 |

*B. Audio ad technology*

| Vendor | Product | Group | LQ (band) | Targeting | Creative | Measure | Optimise | Workflow | Scale | Channels | Prog. | US | Assurance | Transp. | Safety | Counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triton Digital (iHeartMedia) | Triton Ad Platform (TAP) | adtech | 69 (Well documented) | 4 | n/a | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11/11 |
| AdsWizz (SiriusXM) | AdsWizz publisher platform | adtech | 68 (Well documented) | 4 | n/a | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11/11 |
| Spotify (Megaphone) | Megaphone | adtech | 64 (Well documented) | 4 | n/a | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11/11 |
| Amazon (ART19) | Art19 | adtech | 61 (Well documented) | 3 | n/a | 3 | 2 | 4 | n/e | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 10/11 |
| Spreaker (iHeartMedia) | Spreaker | adtech | 57 (Partly documented) | 4 | n/a | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11/11 |
| Simplecast (SiriusXM) | Simplecast | adtech | 57 (Partly documented) | 2 | n/a | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11/11 |
| Triton Digital (iHeartMedia) | Triton Audio Marketplace | adtech | 57 (Partly documented) | 4 | n/a | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | n/e | 3 | 2 | 10/11 |
| Omny Studio (iHeartMedia) | Omny Studio | adtech | 54 (Partly documented) | 2 | n/a | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11/11 |
| SoundStack | SoundStack | adtech | 50 (Partly documented) | 3 | n/a | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11/11 |
| AdsWizz (SiriusXM) | AdsWizz Audio Marketplace | adtech | 43 (Least documented) | 3 | n/a | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | n/e | 10/11 |

### Conventions that decided the hard cells

Counting assurance was the hardest dimension. IAB Tech Lab, the Interactive Advertising Bureau's standards body, requires podcast measurement companies to recertify at least every 12 months, or their status changes to expired [20]. Its public list shows no status column. Review round 2 settled the reading (R2-02) on 29 September 2026, before any cell was scored. A listing counts as current only within the 12-month term. A listing past the term with no status shown reads at anchor 3, and 0 needs the record itself to show a lapse. SiriusXM Media's podcast counting runs on AdsWizz and Simplecast listings last certified on 15 May 2025, so it reads at 3 [15, 107]. Beasley's podcasts are served from ART19, listed for all four counting metrics and last certified on 10 February 2026. That listing is current, and Beasley scores 4 because its broadcast channel is only partly covered [444, 445, 15].

Who owns the certified system does not change the score. Saga, Beasley, MediaCo and Salem hold no IAB Tech Lab or MRC (Media Rating Council) record of their own; where their counting is certified, the system belongs to a third party [117, 15]. The rule that a lapse must appear in the record decided Townsquare. Its first-pass 0 rested on the Nielsen diary service, which entered a six-month accreditation hiatus on 23 June 2026; none of Townsquare's 74 markets is among the 24 where the MRC accredits Nielsen's Portable People Meter (PPM) service [70, 6, 118]. The calibration pass made the cell n/e (SC-02), reading which of its markets are diary-rated as an inference. The adjudication in review round 5 found that the MRC's quarterly record names four of Townsquare's markets among the diary reports in hiatus, so the cell is 0 [118, 70].

National coverage needs national selling. Anchor 5 on US coverage requires national coverage and a US sales operation documented in a filing or official record. Where a radio group documents no national sale of its streams, its broadcast markets are scored. Spotify's 20-F names Spotify USA Inc. as its US operating company but documents no US advertising sales operation, so Spotify reads 4 (R2-09) [446, 21]. Cumulus reads 5 because its filings say an internal US sales team sells network inventory across owned and affiliated stations [38, 81].

Represented supply is counted once, at the seller that represents it. SoundCloud's US inventory sits in the SiriusXM Media row, its exclusive US representative since 2019 [447, 151]. Stations that iHeartMedia's Katz Media represents for commission stay outside iHeartMedia's row [66].

Evidence is never inherited from a parent, subsidiary or partner. SiriusXM Media calls AudioGO its self-serve platform, but AudioGO is an AdsWizz product with its own register entry, so SiriusXM Media's workflow cell reads 1 [448, 449]. MediaCo's national seller, Sigma Audio Networks, is an equity-method affiliate managed by eMedia. Sigma presents itself as powered by MediaCo's stations, so leaving its offers out of MediaCo's row is an accounting-control decision and says nothing about whether Sigma sells other supply [90, 450]. Partner names, announcements, agentic protocol states and capability sources older than 24 months earn nothing.

A calibration pass followed the first scoring. Separate agents compared every cell of each dimension within each cohort against the anchors and these conventions, so that the same evidence earns the same score; the changes are logged as SC-01 in the corrections ledger. iHeartMedia's counting assurance moved from 4 to 3, Amazon's from 3 to 2, and Cumulus's measurement from 3 to 1. Scoring was one pass by the author's AI-assisted research process, after separate AI agents had tried to refute the facts. After review round 4, separate AI scorers re-scored blind the 17 rows nearest a band line: those whose offset sits within 2 points of a line, or whose band moves under a K or reweighting variant. They had the rules, each row's sources and the verified claims, but not the first scores. They matched the first pass exactly on 144 of 200 cells (72%) and came within one point on 162 of the 168 cells both passes scored (96%), a quadratic-weighted kappa of 0.86. Fifteen cells were n/e in one pass and scored in the other, and the second pass scored 0.2 points higher on average. Agreement was weakest on transparency, counting assurance, optimisation and creative. On the second pass's scores four rows would change band: iHeartMedia would reach Most documented, Cumulus and Spreaker would rise to Well documented, and PodcastOne would fall to Partly documented. Both passes are AI scorers reading the same rules, so this tests reproducibility; it is not an independent human rating.

Review round 5 then adjudicated the 29 largest disagreements: every cell scored in one pass and n/e in the other, every cell two points or more apart, and the one-point differences on the four rows whose band had moved. Separate AI adjudicators read both rationales and reopened the sources; a first-pass score changed only for a factual, anchor-application or convention error, and only after the deciding passage was re-read. Ten cells changed and nineteen kept the first pass. The first pass had missed a certified invalid-traffic filter and a content taxonomy for Spotify's transparency, the terms that TelevisaUnivision and Urban One publish, show-level selling in PodcastOne's 10-K, and the MRC record that names Townsquare's diary markets; one TelevisaUnivision cell was set at the level every other radio row gets, not the adjudicator's higher reading. After the corrections, Cumulus rises to Well documented and PodcastOne falls to Partly documented, as the second pass had them, and Beasley slips just below the Well documented line as the field moves. Three bands stay sensitive to the scorer and are marked †: iHeartMedia and Beasley, which the second pass would each raise one band, and Spreaker. data/second-pass.json and data/second-pass.csv hold both passes and each adjudication cell by cell; entries AJ-01 to AJ-10 in the corrections ledger record the changes.

### How the quotient is built

Each group score is the mean of the row's counted cells in that group, skipping n/e and n/a. Raw combines the groups at 45% Depth, 25% Reach and 30% Standing, renormalised over the groups present. The field mean is the average Raw of the cohort's admitted rows. Each row is pulled toward it with a prior strength of 4: the shrunk score is (k × Raw + 4 × field) ÷ (k + 4), where k is the row's number of counted cells. LQ is 100 × shrunk ÷ 5. A row with more counted cells moves further from its field. With a 5 in every applicable cell, a seller would show 86 and an ad-technology service 89. The prior strength is the author's heuristic; no statistical model sets it.

Bands come from the unrounded offset, 20 × (shrunk − field): Most documented at +12 or more, Well documented at +1 or more, Partly documented at −8 or more, Least documented below. The names say what the bands measure, documented capability within the cohort; until review round 4 they were Front rank, Strong, Mid and Narrow, with the same thresholds. A row needs at least 6 counted cells, with one in every applicable group, to be banded. A cohort needs at least 6 such rows. All 34 rows qualify.

Rows are never compared across cohorts. The two fields differ, and each row is shrunk toward its own. An ad-technology service in Partly documented can show a higher number than a seller in Well documented.

![Read the band, not the rank: three products clear the most documented line.](figures/fig-quotient.svg)

*Figure fig-quotient. **Read the band, not the rank: three products clear the most documented line.** The Listen Quotient for the products with enough evidence to band, one section per cohort. The Listen Quotient keeps the Contextual Quotient’s groups, weights and band offsets but takes its field mean over the cohort’s admitted rows’ Raw scores, not pooled group scores; the resemblance does not validate it. Depth, Reach, Standing group means are combined 45/25/30 and shrunk toward the cohort’s field mean (the mean Raw score of its admitted rows) with a prior strength of 4; bands come from the unrounded distance to that field score, and only verified or qualified cells count. A band needs at least 6 counted cells with one in every applicable group, in a cohort with at least 6 such rows. Across the reweightings, positions move by up to 5 places within a cohort, and 25 of the 34 banded products keep their band under every weighting. LQ measures publicly documented capability within a cohort, not product performance. Units: LQ points on a 0–100 scale, pulled toward the cohort field mean; shown rounded, plotted unrounded. Scope: 34 banded products of 34 in the capability matrix, scores as of 30 September 2026. Caveat: Single scorer. The index inherits every limit of the dimension scores and is sensitive to the weights; the bands, not the positions, are the finding. Data: data/lq.csv*

### Results for audio inventory sellers

The seller field score is 44. The Most documented line sits at an LQ of 56.1. Acast, Spotify and SiriusXM Media clear it, each with a complete record. The Well documented rows are iHeartMedia, National Public Media, Libsyn, Cumulus, Audioboom and Amazon. Beasley Broadcast Group sits just below the Well documented line, in Partly documented with PodcastOne, Odeeo, Audiomob, Salem, Hubbard, DAX US, Urban One, Bonneville, Cox Media Group, Audacy and TelevisaUnivision. MediaCo, Saga and Townsquare are Least documented.

A row flagged "band sensitive to missing evidence" is one whose band changes when its n/e cells are filled first with 1, then with 4, with the field and every other row held fixed. 19 of the 20 seller rows with n/e cells carry the flag. Among the Well documented rows, iHeartMedia would reach Most documented at the high fill, and Libsyn, Cumulus, Audioboom and Amazon would fall to Partly documented at the low fill. Those bands rest partly on what their public records leave out, so the matrix marks every flagged band ± provisional, with its scenario span in the row's note, and the figure labels it provisional. Only Acast, SiriusXM Media, Spotify, National Public Media and Urban One have a seller band that no fill moves.

### Results for audio ad technology

The ad-technology field score is 58. No row reaches Most documented, whose line would sit at 70. Triton Ad Platform (TAP), the AdsWizz publisher platform, Megaphone and Art19 are Well documented. Spreaker, Simplecast, Triton Audio Marketplace, Omny Studio and SoundStack are Partly documented. The AdsWizz Audio Marketplace is Least documented. These records are nearly complete; 0 of the 3 rows with n/e cells are band sensitive. AdsWizz and Triton are each scored as a publisher-side row and a marketplace row. That split is inferred from their documentation and may count some of one company's capability twice; chapter 14 returns to it.

### What separates the leaders

The Most documented sellers get there on different groups. Acast leads on Standing. Its counting certificate covers the ad deliveries it sells on, and it reports delivery show by show with file export [15, 451, 304, 452]. It scores 1 on optimisation and on channel breadth, since it sells podcasts only. Spotify has the highest Depth in the cohort. It has a public Ads API [443], and its Ad Analytics uses the IP address as the primary identifier and reports a 40% to 80% device-graph match rate that varies by campaign [176, 199]. Its Standing trails Acast's. IAB Tech Lab lists Megaphone, and no listing named Spotify, Spotify for Creators or Spotify Advertising, so the certified scope misses the in-app impressions Spotify mainly sells [15, 453]. SiriusXM Media scores 5 on US coverage and 4 on channel breadth and inventory scale, and 1 on workflow.

What the leaders share is documented measurement beyond delivery reports, a buying route beyond the insertion order, and a counting chain in an issuing body's record. Most radio groups document none of them. In ad technology, TAP and the AdsWizz publisher platform lead on Depth, with optimisation and workflow at 4 each. The AdsWizz Audio Marketplace is Least documented partly because its terms pay on the advertiser's own count, which no certified scope is shown to cover [25, 15].

### Where the field is weak

Among sellers, Depth is the lowest group mean and Reach the highest. The weakest dimensions are buyer workflow, optimisation, measurement and transparency. Most radio groups sell by insertion order, with reports on request, and report delivery without attribution. On transparency, most show only entries in supply-path files. Brand safety is n/e for most of them: this review found no documented brand-safety or suitability control offered by Saga, Beasley, MediaCo or Salem in the sources screened by 29 September 2026 (inference) [454, 198]. Among ad-technology services the lowest mean is brand safety, followed by measurement and optimisation.

### How much the bands move

The build reruns LQ under 4 reweightings: equal thirds, Depth-led (60/20/20), Reach-led (30/45/25) and Standing-led (30/20/50), recomputing Raw and the field each time. Positions move by up to 5 places among sellers and 3 among ad-technology services. 17 of 24 sellers and 8 of 10 ad-technology rows keep their band under every weighting. iHeartMedia reaches Most documented under the Reach-led weights, and Acast drops to Well documented under them. Beasley reaches Well documented under the Depth-led and Standing-led weights.

Setting the prior strength K to 0, 2 and 8 moves seller positions by at most 1 place. Bands move more: 7 seller rows change band at K = 0, 5 at K = 2 and 2 at K = 8. For ad technology the counts are 3, 2 and 0.

The deletion test turns each counted cell into n/e in turn. Across 242 seller cells, 33 deletions change a band, 6 cost a row its band eligibility and 0 remove a row from the matrix. Deleting Hubbard Radio's measurement and attribution functionality cell, a 1, lifts its LQ from 40 to 49, while leaving it without a counted Depth cell. Leaving out a low score can raise a composite. The largest fall, 6 points, comes from deleting Beasley's counting assurance, which leaves it in Partly documented. Across 107 ad-technology cells, 13 deletions change a band.

The missing-evidence fills of 1 and 4 are scenarios, not bounds. Fills of 0 and 5 are reported separately as a hypothetical full-scale envelope and never set the flag. Imputed cells never make a row eligible for a band. The bands are the finding; the exact positions depend on the weights.

### The profiled products

7 products get a deep profile: Spotify, SiriusXM Media, iHeartMedia, Amazon, Acast, and both in-game specialists, Audiomob and Odeeo, so that neither is singled out.

### Acast (active)

*Acast AB (publ)*

Stockholm-listed podcast network selling ads on hosted and represented shows; North America SEK 964.2m of 2025 net sales SEK 2,516.9m.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** The largest pure-play podcast seller, with IAB Tech Lab-certified ad-delivery counting and fast North American growth, but only one audio channel, no published US audience and thin outcome tooling.

- **Strengths.** IAB Tech Lab's record certifies Acast's own counting against guidelines v2.2 for Download, Listener and Ad Delivery, last certified 18 February 2026. (record) [15, 451] North America net sales reached SEK 964.2m in 2025 (+60%) and grew 34% in Q2 2026; fourteen US advertisers spent over USD 1m in 2025. (record) [73, 526] Buyers get show-level delivery lists, IAB-validated impressions and CSV or XLS exports as standard, plus a documented self-serve Ad Platform. (vendor documentation) [304, 452, 527] Automated channels rose from 35% to 55% of campaigns between December 2022 and December 2025, with programmatic at 42% and self-serve 13%. (record) [73]
- **Weaknesses.** Acast sells one audio channel, podcasts; its scale figures (115 million monthly unique persons, 4,436m listens) are global, with no US audience figure published. (record) [73] No outcome objective, automated outcome optimisation or public advertiser API is documented; the only public API is for publishing. (vendor documentation) [528, 529, 530] Attribution uses Podscribe pixels with an IP macro but discloses no match rate or lookback, and the vendor list still names the defunct Chartable. (vendor documentation) [229, 531, 515] Certification marks Client-Confirmed Ad Play not applicable and domain threat filtering not supported, so counted delivery is not confirmed playback. (record) [451]
- **Opportunities.** If Barometer's pre-bid episode scoring, announced live on 22 January 2026, gets documented buyer controls, Acast could meet brand-suitability requirements for open-network podcast buys. (inference) [274, 532] Exclusive ad-sales deals with Slate, Perfect Day Media and The Washington Post in 2026 could extend US represented supply, where North America grew 31% in H1. (inference) [526] The July 2025 Magnite partnership puts Acast podcasts beside CTV and online video in one sell-side platform, which could draw omnichannel programmatic budgets. (inference) [533, 73]
- **Threats.** Apple's iOS 17 change cut Q4 2023 listens 12% and forced a SEK -76m revaluation; further platform changes could again move counted listens and contract values. (inference) [534] The Q2 2026 switch to listens-and-views, with YouTube due by Q3, mixes certified RSS counts with uncertified views, which could weaken buyer trust in the series. (inference) [526, 451] One customer relationship supplied SEK 366.9m, over 10% of 2025 net sales; losing or repricing it would hit revenue across all segments. (inference) [73]

- **What is sold.** Audio advertising in podcasts Acast hosts or represents, sold as (1) targeted pre-produced audio ads dynamically inserted across the network, (2) host-read sponsorships booked show by show with podcaster approval, (3) 'Sponsorship +' and talent-voiced ads (podcast talent voicing a brand's scripted ad, available through programmatic guaranteed deals from May 2025), and (4) branded content and omnichannel campaigns (audio, video, social, live) produced by Acast Creative Studios (formerly Wonder Media Network; Wake Word Studios added December 2025). Sales channels: direct sales, the self-serve Ad Platform, programmatic (PG and PMP, including through Magnite from July 2025), and omnichannel. From 2026 Acast also sells video ads in video podcasts on Apple Podcasts (HLS), which is video inventory and outside this paper's audio scope. Non-advertising SaaS (hosting, distribution, Podchaser data) was just over 4% of 2025 net sales.
- **Who buys it.** Media agencies are the main client base, plus direct advertisers (annual report revenue note). More than 4,000 advertisers globally (annual report front matter; 4,400 in the market overview). In the US, advertisers spending more than USD 1m a year with Acast rose from 1 in 2022 to 14 in 2025. One customer relationship exceeded 10% of 2025 group net sales (SEK 366.9m), attributable to all segments. Self-serve buyers range from small businesses to agencies; the self-serve terms and minimums were not read.
- **How it earns.** Advertising and sponsorship revenue (more than 95% of group revenue) recognised over time: for impression-based contracts by the number of ads delivered against the contracted number, for fixed-period contracts straight-line. Creators receive a pre-agreed share of advertising spend; content costs (SEK 1,527.4m in 2025) sit in cost of content, giving a 39% gross margin, so reported net sales are before creator payouts (inference from the revenue note and income statement; the report does not use the words gross or net). The annual report models advertising net sales as listens x ad slots = inventory, x sell-through rate = delivered ads, x CPM.
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Supply: shows hosted on Acast plus represented publishers under exclusive ad-sales agreements (for example The Athletic in 2025; Perfect Day Media, Slate and The Washington Post in 2026). Distribution is open RSS to every listening app plus HLS delivery to Apple Podcasts from 2026; Acast states it expects to add YouTube consumption to reported numbers by its Q3 2026 report. Data: Podchaser (acquired 2022, data on 5.6 million shows); Comscore Predictive Audiences power the audience-attribute targeting; Barometer supplies episode-level suitability scores; Podscribe is the preferred attribution partner. Measurement: Acast's own IAB Tech Lab-certified counting system. Programmatic supply paths observed in public files: Acast's sellers.json (one PUBLISHER entry, seller_id 249) and web ads.txt DIRECT lines for AdsWizz, Magnite (rubiconproject.com) and Soundcast; AdsWizz's and SoundStack's sellers.json files list Acast. Its listens counts are exposed to platform changes such as Apple's iOS 17 auto-download change in 2023.
- **Differentiation.** Largest pure-play podcast seller by its own description, with more than 140,000 shows and more than 115 million monthly unique persons (global), sold across all listening apps rather than one owned app. Own IAB Tech Lab-certified counting system (v2.2, February 2026) covering Download, Listener and Ad Delivery. Documented self-serve Ad Platform alongside direct, programmatic and omnichannel routes; programmatic 42% and self-serve 13% of campaigns by number in December 2025. Host-read and talent-voiced formats, including talent-voiced ads sold through programmatic guaranteed deals. In-house creative studios (Acast Creative Studios, from Wonder Media Network and Wake Word Studios). Show-level delivery reporting as standard, with full podcast lists in the downloadable report.
- **Risks.** Platform dependence: Apple's iOS 17 change cut counted listens (Q4 2023 -12%) and forced a SEK -76m contract revaluation; similar platform changes (YouTube, Apple HLS) move the KPI. Customer concentration: one customer relationship above 10% of 2025 net sales (SEK 366.9m). Content and brand-safety risk named in the sustainability statement: inconsistent moderation could alienate advertisers and podcasters. Operational risks named in the annual report: ad-market downturn, audience growth, changes to the competitive landscape including strategic partners, key staff, IT failures. Currency risk: reports in SEK while North America is the largest growth region. Metric comparability risk: the listens-and-views KPI now mixes IAB-certified RSS listens with uncertified HLS views.
- **Best fit.** Buyers wanting broad podcast reach across all listening apps with IAB-certified ad-delivery counting and show-level delivery lists. Small and mid-sized advertisers using the self-serve Ad Platform with location, category and audience-segment targeting. Brands wanting host-read or talent-voiced audio at scale, including through programmatic guaranteed deals. Programmatic buyers using PG or PMP deals via Magnite or other SSPs with episode-level suitability screening.
- **Poor fit.** Buyers needing radio, streaming music or in-game audio from one seller. Buyers needing a published US audience figure, or US-only delivery metrics, from the seller. Performance buyers needing outcome-based buying or automated optimisation toward conversions. Buyers needing client-confirmed ad plays or listen-level attention metrics. Teams needing a public advertiser API for campaign management or reporting.
- **Limits.** Only one audio channel (podcasts); no broadcast, satellite, streaming music or in-game audio. No US audience, US download or US delivery figure is published; scale figures are global. North America is reported as one segment in SEK; the US is not split from Canada in segment data, and three different US-related revenue figures exist (segment, customer location, 'USA' market chart). No public advertiser API; the public API is for publishing only. No documented outcome objective or in-flight outcome optimisation; live self-serve campaigns cannot be paused or edited. Attribution runs through Podscribe pixels with an IP macro; no match rate, lookback or deduplication is disclosed, and brand lift has no documented control design. Client-Confirmed Ad Play is not applicable in the IAB Tech Lab certification, and domain threat filtering is not supported. Episode-level brand safety rests on partner press releases, not Acast documentation. The delivery KPI changed in Q2 2026 (listens to listens and views), breaking the series; YouTube consumption is expected to be added by the Q3 report.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | C | Help-centre 'Campaign targeting' (16 Dec 2024) documents language, audience location by IP address down to country, region, sub-region or partial postal code (US 5 digits), podcast categories and collections, Audience Attributes, specific podcasts by show slug (at least 5 recommended), gender and age skews set per show, and listening device. 'Audience Attributes' (16 Dec 2024) says they are powered by Comscore Predictive Audiences, 466 segments (demographic, interest, purchase behaviour, lifestyle), and that Acast uses 'advanced transcription technology' to analyse episode content (keywords, topics) to place ads in contextually relevant episodes. Families documented: (a) episode content via transcription, (b) audience segments, (d) location and device. (c) advertiser first-party data onboarding: not documented in the pages read (only a 2024 archive note mentions 'first-party data targeting'). Barometer pre-bid episode targeting (press release, 22 Jan 2026) and Comscore/Proximic (release, 22 Jul 2026) add announcements, not documentation. [571, 572, 274, 283] |
| Creative | live | C | (b) Host-read sponsorships: help centre documents a booking process of 4-6 weeks through a Sponsorships Marketplace (filters by market and category, weekly listens, price per week), proposal, podcaster approval of every advertiser, media plan and signed IO. Talent-Voiced Ads (release, 15 May 2025): podcast talent voice a brand's scripted 30-second ad, sold via programmatic guaranteed deals. (d) In-house production: annual report 2025 records Acast Creative Studios (Wonder Media Network, acquired 2 Jan 2025; Wake Word Studios, Dec 2025) offering 'integrated campaigns from concept to production and delivery'. 'AI ads' ('Generate a high-quality audio ad in seconds') appear on the Ad Platform page with no documented voice-consent, disclosure or approval controls, so they count as (d), not (c). (a) Dynamic creative versioning: not documented in the sources read. Two families documented; (b) in some operational detail from vendor documentation only. [573, 574, 73, 527] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | C | (a) Delivery counting: impressions counted per IAB guidelines v2.2 on valid downloads, full-download and progressive-download rules explained (help centre, 29 Oct 2025); dashboard shows 'IAB validated impressions' and unique reach; certified in IAB Tech Lab's record (scored under counting_assurance). (d) Third-party integrations: tracking tags with macros including (acast-ip), user agent, show and episode URL, mobile ad ID; approved vendor list by market (e.g. Podscribe, Magellan AI, DoubleVerify, Veritonic; US-only Claritas, Placed, Upwave, VideoAmp, DISQO) (help centre, 11 Jun 2026). The list still names Chartable, which shut down in December 2024. (b) Attribution: Podscribe pixels (visits, sign-up, lead, purchases) feed visits, unique visitors and purchases into the Acast dashboard; Acast's 6 Jul 2026 article says matching is 'usually by IP address'; no match rate, lookback window or deduplication is disclosed, so (b) is only partly met. (c) Brand lift: the article says managed campaigns 'can layer on ... brand-lift studies' with no control-group design documented. Two components fully documented. [575, 304, 229, 531, 576, 515] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | C | Documented: weekly frequency cap per listener (help centre, 8 Apr 2025; average frequency 2-3), a 'slightly front-heavy pacing algorithm' to minimise under-delivery (analytics dashboard, 9 Apr 2025), forecasting of budget spend (8 Apr 2025), and billing only for delivered impressions. Not documented in the sources read: an outcome objective other than delivery, automated in-flight optimisation toward an outcome, or reported results with method. Live campaigns cannot be paused or edited, only stopped and copied (overview dashboard). A 4.9x ROAS figure appears only as a vendor assertion without design. [529, 304, 577, 530] |
| Buyer workflow | live | C | (a) Self-serve Ad Platform: account creation, campaign build, budget, dates, real-time forecast, targeting, launch and analytics (Ad Platform page; help-centre campaign articles). (c) Reporting export: analytics exportable as CSV or XLS and executive summary as PPT; delivery report in XLSX and PPT with breakdowns by date, device, podcast, category and demographics. (b) Public API for campaign management or reporting: not found; the only public API (developers.acast.com) is the Publishing API, which the help centre says is 'designed exclusively for publishing purposes' and is available to creators on paid plans or in the Creator Network. The Ad Manager reporting suite with breakdowns by show is available only to eligible Creator Network partners, not advertisers. [527, 304, 452, 528, 305] |
| Inventory scale | live | A | Metric: monthly unique audience, global only. Annual report 2025: 'reaching more than 115 million unique persons per month' across more than 140,000 podcasts. Separate series, kept apart: listens 4,436m in 2025 (369.7m a month, derived; a listen is an Acast KPI based on its IAB-certified download counting, not an ad delivery); listens and views 1,120m in Q2 2026. Ad inventory 37,325m slots in 2025 at a 0.43 sell-through rate implies about 16.0bn delivered ads a year, about 1.34bn a month (derived from company-defined KPIs, global). No US audience, US downloads or US delivery figure was found. The unique-audience figure meets the 5 threshold (100 million or more) but is global-only, which the dimension definition caps at 4. [73, 526] |
| Channel breadth | live | A | One audio channel, podcasts, with two delivery methods: RSS downloads with dynamic ad insertion and HLS delivery (the Q2 2026 KPI counts 'all IAB-valid listens, plus HLS listens and views'; 'our reported numbers reflect RSS and HLS consumption'). No broadcast, satellite, streaming music or in-game audio is sold. Video podcast ads on Apple Podcasts (from May 2026) are video inventory and do not count as a second audio channel. [73, 526] |
| Programmatic access | live | D | Deal types: programmatic guaranteed and private marketplace (programmatic page); the Magnite release (29 Jul 2025) adds 'open bidding' in passing. Named exchange: the annual report records that Acast's catalogue 'becomes available to advertisers via Magnite's platform'; web ads.txt lists rubiconproject.com 26612 DIRECT, adswizz.com acast and 249 DIRECT, and soundcast.io DIRECT (observed 29 Sep 2026; web-domain file only); AdsWizz's and SoundStack's sellers.json list Acast as PUBLISHER. DSPs: the programmatic page shows logos (Adform, Adobe, AdsWizz, Amazon DSP, DV360, Xandr, Nexxen, StackAdapt, The Trade Desk, Viant, Basis, Yahoo) with no integration documentation, so they are names only; The Trade Desk's partner directory lists Acast under audio inventory. VAST 4.x or OpenRTB audio support: not documented in the sources read. Agentic protocol states (rule 12, no credit): schema representation not assessed; implemented connector, interoperability test, production use and transaction not found; Acast is not among the 34 agents in AgenticAdvertising.org's registry (read 29 Sep 2026). [578, 533, 73, 147, 101, 102, 134, 3] |
| US availability and coverage | live | A | Annual report 2025 (filing): North America segment net sales SEK 964.2m; net sales from US-located customers SEK 874.8m; 'USA' market net sales SEK 796m with 17% contribution margin; 14 US advertisers spending over USD 1m a year; US subsidiary Acast Stories Inc. Vendor supplier page gives the US contracting details (Acast Stories Inc., 136 Crosby Street, New York). Podcast inventory is delivered over open RSS to every listening app, which is national by the dimension's definition; location targeting supports US 5-digit postal codes. Q2 2026 CEO letter calls the US 'our largest and fastest-growing region'. [73, 579, 571, 526] |
| Counting assurance | live | A | IAB Tech Lab's compliant-companies record (re-read 29 Sep 2026) lists Acast, guideline version 2.2, metrics Download, Ad Delivery and Listener, last certified 18 February 2026 (within 12 months of the freeze). The certification report issued to Acast AB marks Download, Listener, Ad Delivered and publisher/show/episode-level metrics Supported, Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable', and domain threat filtering 'Not Supported'. The certified system is Acast's own (owned; no credit either way). Ad Delivered is the metric the product sells on (impressions per the help centre). The certificate does not cover HLS views, which enter Acast's KPI from Q2 2026. v2.3 was a public-comment draft, not final, at 28 Sep 2026. [451, 15, 575] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | A | (a) Show-level delivery reporting: analytics dashboard lists top podcasts with impressions and share of delivered impressions; the downloadable report carries the full list of podcasts and impressions and uniques per podcast (help centre). (c) Invalid-traffic filtering with named method: the IAB Tech Lab certification report documents IP threat, user-agent, 2-byte-range and automatically triggered download filtering (Supported) and domain threat filtering (Not Supported). (d) Inventory quality attributes: annual report discloses average ad slots per listen 8.4, inventory 37,325m, sell-through 0.43 and CPM USD 15 for 2025. (b) Supply path: sellers.json has a single PUBLISHER entry (seller_id 249) and does not separate owned from represented publishers; web ads.txt observed. Components (c) and (d) are in official records; (a) is vendor documentation. [451, 73, 304, 452, 580, 147] |
| Brand safety and suitability | live | D | (a) Episode-level classification and (d) third-party verification: Barometer release (22 Jan 2026) says every Acast episode is scored on upload against IAB categories and Barometer's proprietary definitions, pre-bid, 'live across Acast's entire inventory', with brands setting 'their own risk and contextual parameters'; Comscore's release (22 Jul 2026) announces Proximic transcript-level brand-safety activation with Acast. (c) Categories: IAB Content Taxonomy 3.0 and 'Barometer Brand Standard Categories' named in the 2024 release; risk levels not published. (b) Show allow list: 'Specific Podcasts' targeting by show slug (help centre); an advertiser block list is not documented (the annual report's block-list function is for podcasters). DoubleVerify appears only as an approved tracking vendor name. The '100% alignment' result is unquantified by method. The episode-level evidence is press releases only. [274, 532, 283, 571, 73, 578] |

Performance evidence: Podcast advertising returns 4.9x per dollar on average versus 3.7x across the broader media market, and short-term performance is 56% higher than other media channels. (vendor assertion, sponsor Acast (annual report footnote cites 'Acast, OMG & Annalect')) [73, 515]; Initial campaigns on the Barometer pre-bid integration reported '100% alignment with the advertiser's brand standard profile at the episodic level'. (vendor assertion, sponsor Acast and Barometer (joint release)) [274]; Talent-Voiced Ads test results were 'very promising' (test partner quote); 4 in 5 people will consider a brand promoted by their favourite host. (vendor assertion, sponsor Acast) [574]; Acast's September 2022 page said podcast host reads ranked No.1 in Kantar's 2021 ad equity report; Kantar's own summary ranks podcast ads 11th overall and first among digital ad media, and does not mention host reads. (synthesis, sponsor Acast (claim); Kantar (summary)) [250, 248]

### Amazon (active; restructured)

*Amazon Advertising LLC (US IO counterparty for Amazon Ads audio ads); ART19 LLC (hosting and insertion)*

Audio ads on Amazon Music free tier, Alexa, Wondery and PAN podcasts via Amazon DSP; Wondery ad sales merged into Amazon Music in 2025.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** Amazon sells audio on Amazon Music, Alexa and Wondery or ART19 podcasts through Amazon DSP, with certified podcast counting in ART19 but a thin public record on scale, attribution method and brand safety, and a restructured Wondery.

- **Strengths.** ART19, Amazon's host, holds IAB Tech Lab v2.2 certification for downloads, listeners, ad delivery and client-confirmed ad plays, last certified 10 February 2026. (record) [15, 535] Interactive audio ads let Alexa listeners add to cart, set reminders or request information by voice, specified in Amazon's ad-spec documentation. (vendor documentation) [536, 537] Audio became an inventory type in Amazon DSP's Campaign Management APIs on 11 June 2026, with a prospecting tactic added 30 June. (vendor documentation) [538] ART19's help centre documents targeting, pacing, frequency capping and server-side third-party measurement in operational detail. (vendor documentation) [539, 540, 183]
- **Weaknesses.** No Amazon-published audience, impression or download figure for its audio inventory was found, and Amazon's filings never mention audio. (record) [194, 457] Amazon names no counting standard or attribution match level for its audio reporting; MRC accreditation covers Alexa display, not audio. (record) [194, 157, 541] No episode-level suitability controls are documented for Amazon audio; its November 2025 suitability controls exclude audio. (vendor documentation) [295, 294] Published outcome figures are single-advertiser case studies on Amazon internal data, with no control group or design. (vendor claim) [194, 542]
- **Opportunities.** Amazon DSP opened rival podcast and streaming supply with PMP and PG deals in July 2026, positioning Amazon as audio's consolidated buying route. (inference) [135] Buyers name ROI measurement as audio's main barrier; Amazon's closed-loop store data could answer it if the method were published. (inference) [461, 542] Publishers moving to ART19 (PodcastOne 2025, Beasley 2025) widen supply Amazon can sell through the Podcast Audience Network. (inference) [543, 444, 544]
- **Threats.** Wondery was restructured in August 2025 and its advertising site no longer resolves, leaving sponsorship sales publicly undocumented. (record) [545, 478, 546] Inside Amazon DSP, Amazon's own audio now competes with Spotify, SiriusXM and iHeartMedia inventory for the same budgets. (inference) [135, 547] PAN gives publishers no targeting controls and auto-approves pending brands after five days, a possible deterrent for premium podcast publishers. (inference) [544, 548]

- **What is sold.** Audio ads (10 to 30 seconds per the spec page; 10 to 60 seconds per the product page) with companion banners on Amazon Music's ad-supported tier, Alexa-enabled devices, Alexa News and Amazon Publisher Direct music and digital radio publishers; interactive Alexa audio ads with three voice calls to action; dynamically inserted podcast ads on Amazon Music and Wondery podcasts, Wondery partners and ART19-hosted shows, including the Podcast Audience Network, which fills unsold ad markers of ART19-hosted shows; sold on CPM through Amazon DSP self-service or managed service, with in-house creative production. ART19 separately licenses hosting, dynamic insertion, an ad server and IAB-certified measurement to podcast publishers, priced on bandwidth.
- **Who buys it.** Advertisers and agencies buying through Amazon DSP, whether or not they sell in the Amazon store; interactive add-to-cart ads and Audio generator require an Amazon product listing (ASIN). ART19 is bought by podcast publishers and networks (named US customers include PodcastOne and Beasley Media Group).
- **How it earns.** CPM media revenue on Amazon-owned and represented audio inventory, reported within Amazon's global 'advertising services' net sales with no audio split; ART19 earns usage-based hosting fees on bandwidth and a share of Podcast Audience Network ad revenue (split not disclosed).
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Owned supply: Amazon Music free tier, Alexa devices, Wondery podcasts. Represented supply: Wondery partners, ART19-hosted shows via PAN (counted once, in this row), Amazon Publisher Direct and Amazon Publisher Services audio publishers. Hosting, insertion and podcast counting run on ART19 (owned). Targeting uses Amazon first-party shopping and streaming signals. From July 2026 Amazon DSP also resells third-party podcast and streaming supply from Spotify Ad Exchange, SiriusXM Media/AdsWizz and iHeartMedia/Triton, which belongs to those sellers' rows.
- **Differentiation.** Interactive audio ads that let listeners act by voice on Alexa devices (add to cart, reminders, send info), tied to Amazon store listings. Audience targeting and outcome reporting from Amazon's shopping signals and Amazon Marketing Cloud (method undisclosed). One buying route (Amazon DSP) spanning owned audio, PAN-represented podcasts and, since July 2026, rival sellers' programmatic audio. Owned hosting and insertion (ART19) with IAB v2.2 certification for all four podcast metrics, including client-confirmed ad plays.
- **Risks.** Restructuring: Wondery ad sales merged into Amazon Music (2025) and Wondery front ends closing (2026) leave sponsorship and host-read sales without public documentation. Amazon DSP's July 2026 opening to Spotify, SiriusXM and iHeartMedia supply puts Amazon's own audio inventory in competition with rivals inside its own buying tool. PAN publishers cannot target or restrict PAN ads by episode or position, and pending brands auto-approve after five days, which may deter premium publishers. Children's-privacy enforcement precedent on Alexa voice recordings (FTC/DOJ, May 2023; see AUD-V-K-S02) sits on the same devices that carry interactive audio ads (inference; no enforcement concerns audio ads).
- **Best fit.** Advertisers selling in the Amazon store who want audio exposure tied to add-to-cart and new-to-brand reporting inside Amazon DSP. Buyers already running Amazon DSP who want podcast and streaming audio in one omnichannel workflow with API access for audio line items. Podcast publishers wanting certified hosting, dynamic insertion and backfill monetisation (ART19 plus PAN).
- **Poor fit.** Buyers needing published audience scale, audited audio impression counts or disclosed attribution match rates before buying. Brands needing episode-level suitability controls or transcript-based targeting on podcasts. Advertisers seeking host-read sponsorships at scale, whose public route (Wondery's ad site) no longer exists.
- **Limits.** No Amazon-published audience, impression or download figure for its audio inventory in the sources screened. Amazon names no counting standard for the podcast or streaming impressions it reports to buyers; the IAB-certified ART19 system is the likely podcast counting chain but the link is not documented by Amazon. No accreditation covers Amazon Music or Alexa audio impressions; MRC's Amazon DSP accreditation covers display and video only. Attribution 'on Amazon' is offered without a stated match level or rate; case studies are single-advertiser internal data. No episode-level brand-suitability controls or integrated verification documented for Amazon audio buys; Wondery's 2024 Barometer programme has no later status. Podcast inventory reportedly excluded from the new DSP Campaign Management API (secondary report of Amazon's FAQ). Wondery's advertising front end no longer resolves after the 2025 restructuring; host-read and sponsorship workflow is undocumented publicly.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | D | Family (b) audience data: US self-service podcast line items offer Amazon Audiences by age range and gender, built with machine-learning models (S05, 3 Jun 2024); the PAN integration adds 'Amazon's first-party data combined with ART19's audience intelligence' with no operational detail (S06, 1 Jan 2026); the product page cites audience insights 'based on billions of shopping and streaming signals' and says capabilities vary by locale (S01). Family (d) delivery context: location targeting (S05). Genre and category selection (S05) is not below show level, so family (a) is not met; no episode, transcript or daypart targeting and no advertiser first-party data onboarding for audio was found. API: UPPER_FUNNEL_PROSPECTING became the first tactic for audio on 30 Jun 2026 (S10). Anchor reading: (b) is one family beyond delivery context (anchor 2); if (d) is counted as a second family the reading would be 3. [581, 582, 194, 538] |
| Creative | live | C | Family (d): in-house production (writing, casting, recording, engineering, mixing) and interactive Alexa formats with three fixed voice CTAs plus companion banners, specified on Amazon's ad-spec page (S02); interactive ads on Amazon Music free tier (US, 2022) and Amazon Publisher Direct on Alexa (US, Oct 2023) (S07, S08). Audio generator (US beta, 15 Oct 2024) writes a script from a product page and lets the advertiser choose 'voiceover talent and tone'; no voice-consent, disclosure or approval controls are documented, so it counts under (d), not (c) (S09). No dynamic creative (a) found; host reads (b) are named only as 'Connect with Wondery' sponsorships linking to a site that no longer resolves (S01, S21). One family documented. [536, 583, 537, 369, 194, 546] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | D | (a) Delivery reporting: impressions, average impression frequency, cumulative reach, audio start and complete, eCPAC (S01); podcasts report 'the standard podcast metric of impressions delivered along with third party aggregate impression measurement' without naming the standard or vendor (S04); a secondary report lists 16 Reporting API audio metrics (starts, quartiles, complete listens, pauses, skips, 2-second plays) (S11). (b) Attribution 'on Amazon' via first-party reporting (S01) and exposure-to-action analysis in Amazon Marketing Cloud described by Amazon's audio head (S12); match level and match rate not stated, so (b) is not met. (c) No integrated lift study documented for Amazon audio; Wondery Ad Analytics (May 2024) offered brand lift, web lift and offline sales lift through third parties including Upwave, but its status after the 2025 restructuring is unconfirmed (S20, S21). (d) Third-party vendors not named. The anchors have no exact step for delivery reporting plus an undisclosed first-party attribution method; recorded as 2 (partial), with 1 the stricter reading. [194, 157, 522, 542, 294, 546] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | C | (a) No outcome objective for audio documented; UPPER_FUNNEL_PROSPECTING became the first tactic for Audio inventory on 30 Jun 2026 ('Previously, no tactics were supported for Audio inventory') (S10). (c) Programmatic guaranteed and PMP deals for podcasts and streaming audio from 6 Jul 2026 (S03); 2024 podcast buys ran on variable CPM, non-guaranteed delivery (S04); average impression frequency is reported (S01) but no frequency cap or pacing control for audio was documented in the sources opened. (d) Results are single-advertiser case studies on Amazon internal data without design (S01). Recorded at anchor 1 (delivery guarantees only); the prospecting tactic could support a higher reading if its optimisation logic were documented. [538, 135, 157, 194] |
| Buyer workflow | live | C | (a) Self-service buying in Amazon DSP for audio and podcast line items, alongside managed service (S01, S04, S08). (b) Public API: audio ad-group inventory type in the DSP Campaign Management APIs from 11 Jun 2026, documented in Amazon's public Advanced Tools Center release notes (S10); per a secondary report of Amazon's FAQ, podcast inventory is excluded from the new API (S11). (c) Reporting: Reporting API audio metrics (S11) and audio creative files via the Ad Library API from 4 Jun 2026 (S10). The buying route is Amazon DSP (listed, not scored); these documents describe buying audio inventory, which this row sells. API reference pages render by script and were not read directly. [194, 157, 537, 538, 522] |
| Inventory scale | live | E | No Amazon-published monthly US audience, impression, download or ad-delivery figure for Amazon Music's free tier, Alexa audio, Wondery or PAN was found; the product page gives no number (S01) and the FY2025 10-K and Q2 2026 10-Q do not mention audio (S14, S15). Searches logged in data table 'search_log'. [194, 457, 584] |
| Channel breadth | live | D | Two channels: streaming music and digital radio (Amazon Music ad-supported tier, Amazon Publisher Direct music and digital radio publishers, Alexa News) and podcasts (Amazon Music and Wondery podcasts, Wondery partners, ART19-hosted shows, PAN) (S01, S02, S04, S06). Twitch placements are livestream video, not one of the five audio channels. Devices (recorded, not scored): smart speakers (Echo, third-party Alexa devices), Fire TV, desktop, mobile, tablet (S02). No broadcast, satellite or in-game audio found. [194, 536, 157, 582] |
| Programmatic access | live | D | Amazon-owned audio inventory is documented as bought programmatically through Amazon DSP (one named DSP): podcasts since 5 Feb 2024 on variable CPM, non-guaranteed (open-auction-like) delivery (S04); PMP and programmatic guaranteed for podcasts and streaming audio from 6 Jul 2026 (S03); PAN in Amazon DSP from 1 Jan 2026 (S06). ART19's ads.txt authorises AdsWizz, Triton, Magnite (rubiconproject), SoundStack, APS and others to sell art19.com inventory (S48), but no source says which Amazon-sold inventory reaches other DSPs. VAST 4.x and OpenRTB support are not documented for Amazon's own sell side. Agentic protocol state (shared rule 12; no credit): AdCP connector none found, interoperability test none, production use none, transaction none (AUD-I-F14, qualified; AUD-I-F07); the Amazon Ads MCP Server (open beta 2 Feb 2026, AUD-I-S19) is a vendor API connector, not an agentic advertising protocol, and no source shows it creating audio buys (AUD-I-F12). [157, 135, 582, 585, 401, 3] |
| US availability and coverage | live | C | US availability documented: podcast ads launched for US self-service buyers (S04); interactive audio ads US (S07, S08); product page FAQ lists US among 20 locales (S01); US IOs with Amazon Advertising LLC, payments to Seattle (S16). Inventory is national streaming and podcast. No filing documents a US audio sales operation (the 10-K does not mention audio, S14), so anchor 5 is not met. [157, 583, 537, 194, 477, 457] |
| Counting assurance | live | D | Podcast channel: ART19 (Amazon-owned; owned system, no credit either way) is listed by IAB Tech Lab as certified to v2.2 for Download, Listener, Ad Delivery and Client-Confirmed Ad Play, last certified 2026-02-10 (S24, S25); 40 of 46 Wondery-branded shows in an Apple directory sample are served from rss.art19.com (S22) and Amazon lists 'ART19 hosted' supply in its podcast offer (S04), but Amazon does not document that the podcast impressions it reports to buyers come from the certified system (S04 names only 'the standard podcast metric'). Streaming channel: MRC's 29 May 2026 Amazon DSP accreditation covers Alexa connected devices for display only and lists no audio metric (S23); no IAB or MRC record covers Amazon Music or Alexa audio impressions. Anchor 4 (certification covers one of two scored channels, integration documented only by the vendor); capped at 3 because the integration leg rests on a vendor announcement (grade D). [15, 535, 586, 157, 541] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | D | (b) Owned versus represented supply stated: first-party Amazon Music and Wondery versus third-party Wondery partners, ART19-hosted, Amazon Publisher Services and Amazon Publisher Direct publishers (S01, S04). (d) Listen-through attributes reported per campaign: audio start and complete, eCPAC (S01) and quartile and complete-listen metrics in the Reporting API per a secondary report (S11). (a) Show-level delivery reporting to buyers not documented; the same report lists Content title and Content genre as incompatible dimensions for the audio metrics (S11). (c) Invalid-traffic filtering for audio not disclosed; MRC-accredited GIVT reporting covers display and video only (S23). Two components; the (d) leg is campaign reporting rather than inventory-level disclosure, so a stricter reading gives 2. [194, 157, 522, 541] |
| Brand safety and suitability | unconfirmed | D | Wondery announced in May 2024 that its entire back catalogue carried Barometer brand-safety scores and contextual classifications, including non-English ratings in the US, MX, BR and DE (third-party verification through a partner, (d)) (S20); its status after the August 2025 restructuring is unconfirmed and Wondery's advertising site no longer resolves (S21). Amazon DSP's November 2025 suitability controls are scoped to Twitch and third-party web and mobile inventory and do not name audio (AUD-G-S34, verified). Amazon's podcast offer claims 'brand safety inventory protection' without a mechanism (S04), which is an adjective, not a capability. No episode-level controls or allow/block lists for Amazon audio buys were found. [294, 546, 295, 157] |

Performance evidence: Sony interactive audio campaign: 16MM+ impressions; cost per add-to-cart 77% lower than Sony's Amazon average. (vendor assertion, sponsor Amazon Ads) [194]; Milk-Bone: new-to-brand rate of 31% among customers who asked Alexa to add products to cart; 11K users engaged with a branded experience. (vendor assertion, sponsor Amazon Ads) [194]; Blueair (Audio generator ads): 45.3% new-to-brand detail page views; add-to-cart rate 94% above Blueair's 2024 average. (vendor assertion, sponsor Amazon Ads) [194]; Adding streaming audio to streaming-TV campaigns increased reach by roughly 50% to 60% in some studies, with 'double-digit increases' in add-to-cart and new-to-brand among those exposed to both. (vendor assertion, sponsor Amazon DSP (executive statement at an IAB webinar)) [542]; Dentsu's 2023 audio attention study pooled podcast and radio studies with a separate Amazon Ads study on Amazon Music; headline audio figures (10,126 attentive seconds per 1,000 impressions vs 6,501 norms) cannot be attributed to Amazon Music alone. (vendor assertion, sponsor dentsu with Lumen; Amazon Ads ran its own study) [233]; In the EMARKETER/Amazon Ads survey of 100 marketers (November 2025), 55% cited difficulty measuring ROI as a barrier to more digital audio spend. (commissioned measurement, sponsor Amazon Ads with EMARKETER) [458, 461]

### Audiomob (active)

*AUDIOMOB LTD (England and Wales, company no. 11944173); previous name JUKEBOX TECHNOLOGY LTD (12 Apr 2019 to 30 Jul 2019)*

UK private company selling in-app and in-game audio ad units through its SDK; FY2024 unaudited accounts show net liabilities of £4.32M.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** A UK private in-app and in-game audio seller with strong process certifications and patented audibility gating, but sales-led buying, global-only scale claims, no counting accreditation and a stretched FY2024 balance sheet.

- **Strengths.** IAB Tech Lab lists the Audiomob SDK as OM SDK compliant for audio creatives on Android and iOS, recertified 3 June 2026. (record) [15] TAG shows Brand Safety Certified by independent audit (global) and IAB UK lists Audiomob Gold Standard Certified, Buy Side Support. (record) [341, 343] US patent 11,681,494, granted June 2023, covers playing audio while pausing other audio and adapting to device volume. (record) [549, 550] Moments targets ads to developer-tagged in-game events such as wins, losses and rewards, a context signal below app level. (vendor documentation) [307, 326]
- **Weaknesses.** FY2024 unaudited accounts show net liabilities of £4.32M, £0.37M cash and no public revenue. (record) [551] Anti-fraud seal is self-attested and US-only, yet Audiomob presents both TAG seals as independent validation. (record) [341, 342] Scale claims are global, undated and pool gaming with non-gaming apps: 300m monthly active users versus 500M+ monthly users. (vendor claim) [334, 326] No named DSP integration, buyer self-serve interface or buyer API was found; buying runs through sales and resellers. (inference) [307, 552, 324] Retention and uplift claims lack controls; the Veritonic survey of 333 users found 56% would skip if possible. (vendor claim) [308, 361]
- **Opportunities.** Azerion’s July 2026 resale of Moments names US advertisers, a route to US demand without a DSP build. (inference) [326] Bauer’s audioXi integration (December 2025) places Audiomob inside a multi-channel European audio exchange buyers already use. (inference) [325] OM SDK compliance could support MRC-accredited third-party audibility or IVT measurement if a verifier extends accreditation to audio. (inference) [15, 116]
- **Threats.** Confirmation statement overdue since July 2026 and FY2025 accounts due 30 September 2026; recheck before relying on status. (record) [306] August 2026 buy-back, share cancellation and rights variation signal capital restructuring whose terms are not public. (inference) [553] Reseller Azerion also owns competing in-game audio supply through Targetspot’s Targetplay, per the H verifier. (record) [319, 326] Gadsme and Odeeo describe device-volume detection too, eroding Audiomob’s claimed exclusive audibility advantage. (record) [332]

- **What is sold.** Audio ads played inside third-party mobile apps and games through Audiomob’s SDK and Unity plugin: rewarded audio (a reward for listening, with countdown), standard audio (user can mute after five seconds) and Moments (ads targeted to developer-tagged events such as wins or losses), usually with a clickable companion banner. Ads play only when the device is not muted; rewarded ads prompt the user to raise volume below 30%, and other apps’ audio is paused during playback. The homepage extends this from games to streaming, social and podcast apps; only these in-app and in-game audio units are in scope.
- **Who buys it.** Brands and agencies, often through local agencies or resellers (case studies name Media Plan, MediaCom, Mediazone, Moon Digital and music labels such as Sony Music, Warner Music Group, EMPIRE and Mass Appeal Records), and advertisers of partners that resell the supply: Azerion (announced July 2026, including US advertisers), Bauer Media Audio’s audioXi exchange (eight European markets) and Apex Gaming Network (Canada). On the supply side, game and app developers integrate the SDK to monetise.
- **How it earns.** Not disclosed. Audiomob sells ad inventory in apps it does not own and pays developers a share (inference from the developer pages’ impression-level revenue data and revenue-uplift claims); no take rate, CPM or gross versus net revenue is public, and the FY2024 accounts omit the profit and loss account.
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Supply depends on developers integrating the SDK (1,200 apps claimed) and, per its sellers.json, some intermediaries (display.io, Clixbee, OMBU Digital) and two BOTH entries. Distribution partly runs through resellers that also sell competing audio (Azerion owns Targetspot/Targetplay per the H verifier; Bauer runs audioXi). Data: device, OS, carrier, IP-inferred location, advertising IDs where consented, app category, time of day; CMP consent (TCF vendor 748), ATT and COPPA restrictions limit interest-based targeting. Infrastructure on Google Cloud (Bigtable RTB system, BigQuery, Vertex AI). Verification depends on OM SDK tags from IAS, HUMAN and DoubleVerify.
- **Differentiation.** Audibility gating documented by the vendor (sound-on playback, volume prompt, pausing other apps’ audio) and covered by a granted US patent (11,681,494). Moments ties audio ads to developer-tagged in-game events, a form of in-app context below the app level. Holds the broadest certification set among the in-game audio sellers reviewed in AUD-H: TAG brand safety (audited), TAG anti-fraud (self-attested, US), IAB UK Gold Standard, and IAB Tech Lab OM SDK compliance for audio. Resold by larger audio and ad platforms (Azerion; Bauer audioXi in Europe), giving it demand it does not have to originate.
- **Risks.** Balance sheet: net liabilities of £4.32M and £0.37M cash at 31 Dec 2024; later allotments and a buy-back were filed but their terms and the FY2025 accounts are not yet public. Filing compliance: overdue confirmation statement and FY2025 accounts due 30 Sep 2026 (recheck at the freeze). Channel conflict: Azerion, a reseller, also owns competing in-game audio supply (Targetplay, per the H verifier). Claims risk: "0% retention damage", "only company" volume detection and "independent" certification language outrun the records. Platform dependence: iOS ATT and COPPA restrict targeting to contextual signals for many users; supply depends on continued SDK integration by developers.
- **Best fit.** Brand-awareness and music-release campaigns that value completed, sound-on audio in mobile games, bought through a managed team. Buyers who want audio in game moments (wins, losses, rewards) with a companion banner and third-party OM verification. European buyers already on Bauer audioXi or Azerion who want in-app audio added to a wider audio buy.
- **Poor fit.** Buyers who need a programmatic path from a named US DSP with documented deal types. Outcome or attribution buyers: no documented attribution method, lift function or outcome objective. Buyers requiring accredited counts or published US audience and delivery figures.
- **Limits.** No public revenue, take rate or pricing: the FY2024 small-company accounts omit the profit and loss account. Scale figures are global, period-free and pool gaming with non-gaming apps; audience figures (300m vs 500M+) disagree and requests are opportunities, not deliveries. No counting accreditation: OM SDK compliance and TAG or IAB UK certifications cover integration or process, not audio delivery or listen-through counts; no MRC record. Buying is sales-led; no advertiser self-serve, public buyer API or named DSP integration was found. Performance and retention evidence is vendor case studies and one partner survey without control groups. Documentation currency: the Ad Formats page still names MOAT, retired in 2024, and the Moments block reuses standard-ad copy.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | D | Three of the four families are documented, one only in marketing. (a) Content-level context below the app: Moments lets developers tag each ad placement to an in-app event (win, loss, reward, boost) and advertisers target positive or negative moments (Ad Formats page; Azerion/Audiomob release of 9 July 2026, example target "Positive Moment > Reward > Received Speed Boost"); this is event context inside an app, the in-app analogue of below-show context, and the scorer should confirm the analogy. (b) Audience data: "Audiomob Audiences" builds dynamic segments from privacy-compliant signals, contextual insights and machine learning (blog, 30 July 2026) with no segment list, refresh cadence or data source named. (d) Delivery context: the services privacy policy (8 Dec 2025) lists device type, OS, carrier, connection, advertising IDs, time zone, app category, language, time of day and IP-inferred location, with precise geolocation only on consent; interest-based ads only with CMP consent, contextual-only under ATT opt-out and for child-directed apps. Case studies cite regional targeting (Money Man, USA). (c) Advertiser first-party data onboarding: not found. "1,000 data points per ad request" is a marketing claim without definition. [307, 326, 587, 487, 588] |
| Creative | live | D | Two families. (a) Dynamic creative: the joint Azerion/Audiomob release (9 July 2026) says Moments combined with "AI Generated Ads and Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO)" delivers personalised audio ads in 18 languages; no assembly rules, versioning limits or reporting are documented. (d) In-house production and companion formats: a clickable companion banner can be paired with the audio (Bauer release, 10 Dec 2025); Google Cloud’s story says Vertex AI automates companion-banner creation; the EMPIRE case study quotes personalised audio made to match the artist. (c) Synthetic voice with controls: AI-generated ads are offered but no voice consent, disclosure or approval controls were found, so they count under (d). (b) Host reads: not applicable to in-app inventory; none documented. Rewarded ads include an on-screen countdown and in-app reward (format mechanics, not creative production). [326, 325, 589, 588, 307] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | C | Two components. (a) Delivery counting: the SDK records impressions, clicks and completion (privacy policy); ads play only when the device is not muted; rewarded ads encourage raising volume below 30% (Integrations) and audio passback pauses other apps’ audio; listen-through rate and CTR are the reported metrics in case studies. The counting rules are vendor-defined, not a named external standard. (d) Third-party measurement integration: IAB Tech Lab’s compliance record lists the Audiomob SDK as Open Measurement SDK compliant (Active; audio creative, native session; Android and iOS; last certified 3 June 2026), and the Ad Formats page offers OM tags from IAS, HUMAN or DoubleVerify. The same page still lists MOAT (retired by Oracle on 30 September 2024 per round-1 item X-13) and DCM among trackers. (b) Attribution method with match level: not found; MMP support on the Integrations page is a developer-side tool. (c) Lift or incrementality as an integrated function: not found; the Veritonic survey (H1 2025, n = 333) was a one-off study "in partnership with Audiomob" with no control group (AUD-H-S11, AUD-H-F20 qualified), and HMRC recall research has no published method. [307, 308, 487, 15, 361, 364] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | C | Frequency capping is a stated processing purpose ("Limiting repetitive ad exposure (frequency capping)", privacy policy, 8 Dec 2025); ad selection uses machine learning over "over 1,000 data points per ad request" to pick "the most relevant ads" (Ad Formats), which is relevance selection, not optimisation toward a buyer outcome. No outcome objective (installs, visits, conversions), no in-flight outcome optimisation, no pacing controls and no result with a stated method were found; case studies report LTR, CTR and one agency-quoted lead count (Hyundai, 8,000+) without design or comparator. [487, 307, 590] |
| Buyer workflow | live | C | Buyer access is sales-led: "Speak to our Sales team" and "Book a demo" (Ad Formats, homepage) and regional sales addresses (Contact). No self-serve advertiser interface, public buyer API or buyer reporting export was found. The documented dashboard, custom and scheduled reports, reporting API, webhooks and ad-availability API are for developers (supply side, Integrations page; developer.audiomob.com redirects to a login). Third parties also sell the inventory (Azerion, Bauer audioXi, Apex Gaming Network). Anchor 1 is the closest fit; a buyer-side reporting portal may exist but is not documented publicly. [309, 307, 552, 308] |
| Inventory scale | live | D | No US figure. Global, undated vendor claims: 300m monthly active users, 15b+ monthly bid requests, 1,200 apps, 160 countries (About page); "more than 500 million monthly users across gaming and non-gaming content and over 15 billion ad requests monthly" (co-founder quote, 9 July 2026). The audience metric is monthly users of integrated apps (audience of the supply), not persons reached by ads; bid and ad requests are opportunities and are not scored as deliveries. Gaming and non-gaming supply are pooled, so in-game audio scale alone is undisclosed. The only delivered-ad count is 37,187,858 impressions across Veritonic-tracked campaigns with no period (AUD-H-S11). On the audience threshold, 300 million or more would meet anchor 5, but a global-only figure is capped at 4 by the dimension rule and marked global; the vendor-marketing grade then caps at 3. Apex Gaming Network, Azerion and Bauer audioXi resell this supply; it is counted once here. [334, 326, 361] |
| Channel breadth | live | D | One channel of the five: in-game audio, extended to other mobile apps. The homepage says its audio ad formats "work across all mobile apps" (streaming, social media, podcasts, gaming); these are in-app audio units played inside those apps, not podcast episode insertion or streaming-music ad breaks, so they do not add the podcast or streaming channels. Formats within the channel: rewarded, standard (mutable after five seconds) and Moments. Anchor 2 (one channel with two or more content formats). [309, 307] |
| Programmatic access | live | D | Audiomob operates its own ad system: a public sellers.json (341 records on 29 Sep 2026: 336 PUBLISHER, 3 INTERMEDIARY, 2 BOTH), a real-time bidding system described by Google Cloud, and "OpenRTB integrations" for developers (privacy policy). Third-party routes: Bauer Media Audio’s audioXi exchange integrated Audiomob in eight European markets (10 Dec 2025, no US market) and Azerion offers Moments to its advertisers including in the US (9 July 2026). No named DSP integration, no VAST 4.x or OpenRTB audio-object documentation for buyers and no deal types were found (searches logged). Anchor 2 on the documented exchange route. Agentic protocol state (shared rule 12; no credit): protocol none identified; schema representation not applicable to the seller; implemented connector not found; interoperability test not found; production use not found; transaction not found. AgenticAdvertising.org’s registry listed 34 agents and none from Audiomob on 28 and 29 September 2026 (AUD-I-F07); the stream screened Audiomob only against that registry (AUD-I-F14 qualified). [324, 589, 487, 325, 326, 3, 3, 324] |
| US availability and coverage | live | C | US availability is documented by the vendor, not in a filing: a New York office at 160 Varick St and a US sales contact (Contact page), a team based in Abu Dhabi, London and New York (Careers), and US-region campaigns (Mass Appeal Records, US; EMPIRE, USA; Warner, including US). TAG’s registry scopes Audiomob’s Certified Against Fraud seal (self-attested) to United States operations. Azerion’s release names US advertisers among those gaining access to Moments. No US inventory share, US audience figure or national-coverage statement was found. This settles the register’s "unconfirmed" to vendor-documented US availability. [552, 591, 592, 588, 341, 326] |
| Counting assurance | live | A | No counting-chain accreditation found. MRC’s digital accreditation page listed no Audiomob service on 28 Sep 2026 (AUD-H-F24; recheck at freeze), and the IAB Tech Lab podcast compliance programme does not apply (no podcast delivery). The one standards-body record in the chain is IAB Tech Lab’s Open Measurement SDK compliance for the Audiomob SDK (Active, audio creative, Android and iOS, last certified 3 June 2026), which validates that third-party verification tags work through the SDK; its scope does not cover the metrics Audiomob sells on (impressions under audible conditions, listen-through). Ownership: the certified integration is Audiomob’s own SDK implementing IAB Tech Lab’s OM SDK; the verification vendors (IAS, HUMAN, DoubleVerify) are third parties whose own accreditations were not checked for audio (no credit either way). TAG seals and IAB UK Gold Standard certify company processes, not counts. Anchor 2 is the closest fit (certified element in the chain, scope not covering the sold metric); the scorer may instead treat OM SDK compliance as outside this dimension and record n/e. [15, 116, 341, 343] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | C | Two components documented. (b) Supply path: a public sellers.json with 341 records, 207 distinct seller IDs, none confidential, including three INTERMEDIARY and two BOTH entries (so some supply reaches Audiomob through other intermediaries), and a TAG-ID (observed 29 Sep 2026); the vendor claims sellers.json and ads.txt compliance, and IAB UK lists it Gold Standard certified (Buy Side Support). (c) Invalid traffic: "machine learning and IP filtering" (Ad Formats), HUMAN named as fraud-detection partner (privacy policy), and TAG Certified Against Fraud achieved by self-attestation for US operations only (TAG registry), which is not an independent certification. (a) App-level reporting to buyers is only implied by a case study (Warner) and (d) inventory quality attributes appear only as per-campaign LTR and CTR in case studies; neither is documented as a function. [324, 324, 307, 487, 341, 343, 593] |
| Brand safety and suitability | live | D | (b) Placement-level controls: exclusion lists, a mandatory inventory approval process, regularly updated blocklists and monitoring, with placements suspended on violation (blog, 13 Aug 2026). (d) Third-party verification: OM tags from IAS, HUMAN or DoubleVerify (Ad Formats), with the SDK’s OM integration certified by IAB Tech Lab (3 June 2026). TAG Brand Safety Certified through independent validation by a third-party auditor, global operations (TAG registry), certifies company process, not a buyer control. (a) Content classification of the surrounding app content: not found; the Speech-to-Text and NLP pipeline reviews the ads themselves (about 10,000 unique audio ads a day per Google Cloud), not the environment. (c) Suitability framework with named categories: not found. Child-directed apps get contextual-only ads with identifiers removed (privacy policy). Users can report ads. [594, 595, 307, 15, 341, 589, 487] |

Performance evidence: In-game and in-app audio causes "0% retention damage" (integrations page; Lockwood case study; Veritonic white-paper marketing page). (vendor assertion, sponsor Audiomob) [308, 348, 361]; Veritonic survey: 54% of 333 players preferred audio ads to video ads (9% video, 37% no preference); 42% continue playing, 56% would skip if possible, 2% close the game; 30% recall ads from mobile games vs 32% for television. (commissioned measurement, sponsor Conducted by Veritonic "in partnership with Audiomob"; payer not stated) [361, 596]; Brand campaigns achieve listen-through rates of 74% to 95.2% and CTRs of 0.59% to 6.3% (Coca-Cola, Hyundai, HMRC, Mass Appeal, EMPIRE, Warner and others). (vendor assertion, sponsor Audiomob) [592, 588, 593, 590, 597, 360]; HMRC "Help for Hustles" reached a 95.2% listen-through rate with 27% recall (33% among side hustlers) and nine in ten respondents taking or intending action. (vendor assertion, sponsor Audiomob) [364, 360]; Developers see revenue uplifts of 5% to 100% (TapNation, INDIEZ, Chick Mania, Magic Lab, Lockwood, Mad Hook, Kepithor). (vendor assertion, sponsor Audiomob) [348, 349, 350, 356, 598, 357, 358]; Rewarded ads "increase engagement by over 52%". (vendor assertion, sponsor Audiomob) [307]

### iHeartMedia (active)

*iHeartMedia, Inc. (selling entity in advertiser terms: iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc., on behalf of itself and its affiliates)*

Sells ads on 868 owned US radio stations, their streams, the iHeartRadio app and iHeartPodcasts; Triton, Omny and Spreaker are scored as separate rows.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** The largest US radio group, selling 868 owned stations, iHeartRadio and top-ranked podcasts as one offer on a group-owned ad-tech rail, while carrying USD 5.0 billion of debt.

- **Strengths.** Filings record 868 owned US stations in about 160 markets, a local sales force covering 48 of the top 50 markets, and about 35,000 clients. (record) [66] Podtrac's August 2026 ranking puts iHeart first and second: 58.9 million US monthly audience for its sales network, 31.1 million for iHeartPodcasts. (record) [554] Podcast revenue grew 25.6% to USD 563.7 million in 2025 and 20.7% in Q2 2026, while broadcast radio fell 5.4% in 2025. (record) [66, 67] Broadcast radio is buyable programmatically through named DSPs: StackAdapt since November 2025 and Viant since December 2025; Amazon DSP added iHeart podcast and streaming supply in July 2026. (vendor claim) [137, 139, 135]
- **Weaknesses.** Its standard terms call attribution and measurement third-party add-ons iHeart does not provide, and bar advertisers from using delivery data to build attribution models. (vendor documentation) [378] Non-cash trade and barter revenue rose to USD 381.3 million in 2025 and USD 228.8 million in H1 2026, inflating reported growth. (record) [66, 67] MRC accredits Nielsen PPM in only 24 markets, and the diary service covering smaller markets has been unaccredited during a hiatus since 23 June 2026. (record) [6, 118] Episode-level brand safety dates from a 2023 release; its Sounder classifier is now group-owned, and no third-party verifier integration was found. (vendor documentation) [278, 279]
- **Opportunities.** If AudioGraph reaches general availability as planned for later 2026, broadcast could be bought on ID-based segments, which iHeart says expand to other broadcasters in 2027. (inference) [190, 377] If broadcast becomes available through agentic transactions as announced for 2026, iHeart would hold the only documented agentic path to AM/FM inventory. (inference) [397, 398] If Magellan's simulcast-based broadcast attribution launches, iHeart could offer measured broadcast outcomes exclusive to its advertisers, provided match method and rate are published. (inference) [191]
- **Threats.** With USD 5.0 billion of debt, USD 174.4 million of cash at June 2026, and about USD 2.8 billion maturing in 2029, refinancing risk grows each year. (inference) [66, 67] If trade initiatives shrink in H2 2026 as iHeart expects, reported broadcast and digital growth could turn negative while cash spot demand keeps falling. (inference) [67] A standing 2023 FTC order on deceptive endorsements means any repeat in host or personality reads carries order-violation penalties. (inference) [407, 408]

- **What is sold.** Audio advertising across owned broadcast radio (868 US stations, 249 AM and 619 FM, in about 160 markets) and their simulcast streams; the iHeartRadio app (live, digital-only and custom artist stations); iHeartPodcasts (947 Podtrac-measured shows) and the iHeart Audience Network, a podcast sales network that includes represented shows (26,598 shows in Podtrac's August 2026 ranking); Premiere Networks syndicated programmes and Total Traffic & Weather; host and personality endorsements; sponsorships and events. Sold direct by local and national sales forces under insertion orders, and programmatically through DSPs (StackAdapt, Viant, Amazon DSP) largely via its subsidiary Triton Digital's rail. SmartAudio (data targeting, dynamic creative, dashboards) and AudioGraph (ID-based broadcast planning, closed beta or launching in 2026) are sold as parts of the offer. Group companies described but not scored here: Triton Digital (TAP ad server, Triton Audio Marketplace exchange, Podcast Metrics, Webcast Metrics), Omny Studio (hosting), Spreaker and Voxnest (podcast hosting and programmatic), Jelli (programmatic broadcast), Sounder (brand safety and contextual), Unified; Katz Media (representation of 3,400+ non-iHeart radio stations) and RCS (software).
- **Who buys it.** National and local advertisers and their agencies across categories (financial services, automotive, health care, telecommunications, insurance, education, food and beverage, entertainment, political); no category is more than about 5% of advertising revenue; about 35,000 clients (10-K). Programmatic buyers reach it through DSPs; small businesses were served by a self-serve tool (AdBuilder) whose site was not reachable at the freeze.
- **How it earns.** Advertising sold per spot or impression, priced mainly on spot length and audience "as measured by independent ratings services", with drive times priced highest (10-K); podcast revenue is "primarily generated through the sale of advertising"; digital revenue also includes iHeartRadio subscriptions; networks earn advertising plus syndication fees; Katz earns representation commissions. Non-cash trade and barter was USD 381.3 million of 2025 revenue.
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Owned FCC-licensed stations (subject to FCC ownership, content and technical rules) and owned podcast catalogue; represented podcast supply through the iHeart Audience Network. Audience currency for broadcast depends on Nielsen Audio, whose PPM accreditation covers 24 markets and whose diary service is on MRC hiatus since 23 June 2026. Podcast counting runs on the group's own Triton and Omny systems. Targeting depends on first-party listener data, third-party data providers, TransUnion (AudioGraph) and Semcasting (advertiser onboarding); attribution depends on partners (Magellan AI, PlaceIQ, GroundTruth). Programmatic access depends on DSPs and on Triton's exchange. Music licensing (PROs, SoundExchange) is a cost dependency for streaming.
- **Differentiation.** Largest owned US station footprint in this review: 868 stations, local sales in about 160 markets (10-K). Broadcast radio made available programmatically through named DSPs (StackAdapt, Viant) since late 2025, which the DSPs' releases call a first for their platforms. Top-ranked podcast publisher and sales network in Podtrac's August 2026 US ranking. The only audio seller in this review with a documented agent-to-agent transaction (August 2026 pilot). A written "Guaranteed Human" content policy against AI personalities and synthetic voices in its programming. Owns its own ad-tech and measurement rail (Triton, Omny, Jelli, Sounder), which no other radio group in the review does to the same extent.
- **Risks.** Leverage: USD 5.0 billion of debt at 30 June 2026 against USD 174.4 million of cash; about USD 2.8 billion of secured principal matures in 2029 (10-K). Broadcast advertising decline: Broadcast Radio revenue fell 5.4% in 2025 and Q2 2026 growth came from trade and political revenue. Trade revenue reliance: iHeart expects a significant reduction of non-cash strategic marketing initiatives in H2 2026, which will slow reported growth. Audience currency risk: the Nielsen diary hiatus leaves many smaller-market stations without accredited audience estimates until at least late 2026. Regulatory exposure on endorsements: a standing FTC order (2023) and the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule (AUD-V-K-S01, per the stream K verifier) apply to host and personality reads. Owning the rail and the inventory invites scrutiny of access and pricing (H5); no public evidence of preferential terms was found (AUD-D-F15). Privacy law: state privacy laws and Global Privacy Control opt-outs could "materially impact" targeted advertising revenue (10-K).
- **Best fit.** National or multi-market advertisers wanting broadcast reach combined with streaming and podcasts in one IO. Local and regional advertisers needing market-by-market broadcast presence in about 160 US markets. Brands buying personality and host endorsements with talent approval. Programmatic buyers on StackAdapt, Viant or Amazon DSP who want broadcast radio alongside digital audio. Buyers testing agentic workflows in audio who can accept a pilot-stage, proprietary MCP-based setup.
- **Poor fit.** Buyers who need a documented attribution method with match level and rate, or a published control-group design, from the seller itself. Buyers who need log-level delivery data they can keep and combine with other data (Order Terms s.6.10). Buyers requiring third-party (non-group) brand-safety verification or show-level allow and block lists on podcasts. Small advertisers wanting a self-serve interface (none observable at the freeze). Buyers needing MRC-accredited audience estimates in every market bought.
- **Limits.** Measurement and attribution are third-party Add-On Services that iHeart says it "does not provide" (Order Terms s.6.7); no attribution match level, match rate or control-group design is published. Advertisers may use iHeart delivery data only to validate transmission, may not combine it or build an attribution model with it, and must destroy it after 30 days (Order Terms s.6.10). Broadcast audience currency is only partly accredited: Nielsen PPM in 24 markets; the diary service for smaller markets is unaccredited during its hiatus since 23 June 2026. Podcast counting certifications (Triton 2025-03-04, Omny 2025-02-27) are older than the 12-month recertification interval and their status is not shown publicly; iHeartMedia holds no podcast certification in its own name. No self-serve buying interface or public API was found on iHeart's own domains; the AdBuilder site returned 404 at the freeze. Brand safety documentation is a 2023 release; the classifier is now group-owned and no third-party verifier integration was found. A large part of 2025-2026 growth is non-cash trade and barter; broadcast cash spot revenue is still falling.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | A | Four families documented. (a) Daypart: the 10-K says broadcast rates are "influenced by the time of day the advertisement airs, with morning and evening drive-time hours typically priced the highest"; Premiere Networks sells ads inside named syndicated programmes. (b) Audience data: the 10-K says listener information is used to deliver ads "based on geographic locations, device type, and interests as inferred from browsing, listening, or app usage activity" and that iHeart obtains audience behaviour data from third-party data providers; SmartAudio offers "impression-based audience planning" across broadcast inventory; AudioGraph (18 Jun 2026) adds ID-based segments from first-party listener data and TransUnion's identity graph (closed beta per 22 Jan 2026; "will launch" per the June release). (c) Advertiser first-party onboarding: Order Terms s.6.8-6.9 (09/22/2026) cover pixel, file-upload and other onboarding and Semcasting Audience Designer onboarding of the advertiser's first-party customer data into matched segments, resold as a third-party Add-On Service (s.6.7). (d) Delivery context: geography and device (10-K); SmartAudio market-level real-time triggers. The 2021 podcast PMP targeted by podcast category, listener location and psychographic cohorts (AdExchanger). Not in operational detail: segment definitions, refresh cadence and match rates are not published; the only method description (an identity spine built by probabilistic modelling of broadcast listeners against logged-in digital users and TransUnion data) is a trade report reposted by Triton. Anchor 4 rests on families (a), (b) and (d) documented in the 10-K (grade A); (c) is vendor contract documentation. [66, 378, 190, 377, 599, 600] |
| Creative | live | D | Three of four families documented. (a) Dynamic creative: the 10-K says SmartAudio offers "dynamic radio advertising that utilizes real-time triggers such as weather, pollen counts, sports scores, mortgage rates and more to deploy different campaign messages" by market and moment; the 2020 AdSuite release describes dynamic and local podcast ad insertion serving "customized real-time ad creative". (b) Host and personality reads: Order Terms s.6.6 make Influencer or Endorsement inventory "subject to influencer or endorser talent approval" with iHeart's right to replace talent; the 2020 AdSuite release describes "Podfluencers" host-read integrations; the FTC record shows the scale of one past programme (nearly 29,000 Pixel 4 endorsements aired 2019-2020). (c) Synthetic voice: not offered as a seller function; the Guaranteed Human policy bars AI-generated on-air personalities, synthetic music and AI podcast content, while Order Terms s.4.5 accept advertiser-supplied AI Materials subject to disclosure, likeness-consent and union warranties. (d) In-house production: 2020 AdSuite "Storytellers" (extended mid-rolls, custom episodes, branded series) and "iHeartPodcast Boost" custom-produced vignettes and host-read branded spots on broadcast. Three families give anchor 4; (d) and the podcast leg of (a) rest on a 2020 release (grade D), so the cell is capped at 3. Scorer note, not applied: the FTC's final consent order of 9 Feb 2023 against iHeartMedia over deceptive first-person endorsements settled allegations without an adjudicated finding; whether it engages the 0 anchor ("a regulator or court finding against its creative practice") is a scoring judgement. [66, 378, 376, 408, 601] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | D | (a) Delivery counting to a stated standard: broadcast is sold on audiences "as measured by independent ratings services" and the 10-K cites Nielsen; the iHeartPodcast Network is hosted on Omny Studio and served by Triton's TAP (27 Feb 2023 release), both listed in IAB Tech Lab's v2.2 podcast record; the iHeartRadio app holds an active IAB Tech Lab OM SDK certification for audio (29 Jun 2026). (b) Attribution method with match level and rate: not documented; AudioGraph and Magellan AI's simulcast-data attribution state no match level, match rate or lookback. (c) Brand lift or incrementality with a control group as an integrated function: not documented; the advertise page cites "iHeartMedia Brand Lift Studies, 2024" (38% increase in message awareness, 69% more consumers taking action) with no design, and the measurement article lists brand-lift, visitation-lift and sales-lift studies "powered by industry leading, third-party measurement partners" without naming them. (d) Third-party integrations: Magellan AI "has been a preferred attribution partner for iHeartMedia across podcasts, streaming audio, connected TV" and "will leverage" iHeart simulcast data for broadcast attribution exclusive to iHeart advertisers (30 Apr 2026); AudioGraph "validated deeper integrations with preferred partners including Magellan AI, PlaceIQ, and GroundTruth" (18 Jun 2026). Order Terms s.6.7 say campaign attribution and measurement services are third-party Add-On Services that iHeart "does not provide". Two components (a, d) give anchor 3; (d) rests on releases (grade D), cap 3. [66, 378, 190, 191, 278, 456, 602, 15] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | D | (a) Outcome objective: not documented as a buyable objective; AudioGraph plans against KPI outcomes (a proof of concept "can deliver a KPI outcome 75 percent higher than traditional demo-based plans", no design) and was in closed beta in January 2026. (b) Automated in-flight optimisation: not documented for direct buys; SmartAudio's "sophisticated planning algorithms" deliver "highly optimized plans" before a campaign (10-K). (c) Pacing and frequency controls: not documented publicly for direct buys; the 10-K's "price and yield information systems" adjust inventory and pricing for the seller, not the buyer. Through partner DSPs: StackAdapt lets advertisers "plan, forecast, buy, measure, and report" on iHeart broadcast and digital audio inside StackAdapt (10 Nov 2025); Viant via Triton (18 Dec 2025); in the Butler/Till agent pilot, 48% of podcast impressions ran in mid-roll against 33% in the traditional plan. (d) Results with method: none. Anchor 2 (optimisation only through partner DSPs, integration documented). A scorer could read AudioGraph's beta as "an outcome objective in beta" (anchor 3); not applied, because the sources describe ID-based planning and partner attribution rather than a buy optimised to an outcome. [66, 397, 190, 377, 137, 139] |
| Buyer workflow | live | A | Managed service under insertion orders (Order Terms, 09/22/2026); the 10-K says SmartAudio presents results through "detailed digital dashboards on the results of the advertising spend", a documented reporting portal. (a) Self-serve: iHeart AdBuilder, described by third parties as a Jelli-powered self-serve tool for small businesses, could not be observed: on 29 Sep 2026 iheartadbuilder.com returned HTTP 404 over HTTPS with an expired certificate and its http address redirected to the iheartmedia.com/advertise lead form; no self-serve buying interface was found on iHeart's own domains (bounded to the pages screened). (b) Public API: none found. (c) Reporting export: not documented; Order Terms s.6.10 license delivery data to the advertiser "solely for internal purposes as necessary to validate" transmission, bar combining it with other data or using it "to create an attribution model", and require its destruction 30 days after transmission. Buyers can plan, buy and report on iHeart inventory inside StackAdapt, which is the partner's workflow, not iHeart's. Anchor 2. [66, 378, 456, 137, 455] |
| Inventory scale | live | A | Scored metric: owned US broadcast stations, 868 (249 AM, 619 FM) at 31 Dec 2025, "All of our radio stations are located in the United States" (10-K), which meets the 500-station threshold. Other series, kept apart and not scored: podcasts per Podtrac, August 2026: iHeartPodcasts 31,112,000 US unique monthly audience and 150,106,000 US downloads and streams from 947 active shows; iHeart Audience Network (a Podtrac "sales network" that includes represented shows) 58,875,000 US unique monthly audience and 266,850,000 US downloads and streams from 26,598 active shows (Podtrac-defined metrics; downloads and streams are deliveries, not listens). 10-K: 167 million global monthly downloads and streams and 30 million unique monthly US users in 2025, as measured by Podtrac. Vendor audience claims: broadcast stations "reach more than 278 million consumers every month" (AudioGraph and StackAdapt releases, no method); iHeartRadio "over 188 million registered users" (registrations, not monthly audience). Katz Media represents more than 3,400 non-iHeart radio stations; it is a separate representation business outside this row's purchased service and is not counted. [66, 190, 603, 137, 554, 604] |
| Channel breadth | live | A | Three of the five channels: broadcast radio and its streams (868 stations, streamed on iHeartRadio); streaming music and digital radio (the iHeartRadio app's "digital-only stations, custom artist stations", monetised "through national and local advertising"); podcasts (iHeartPodcasts and the iHeart Audience Network). Not satellite radio. No in-game audio ad product found; iHeartRadio runs on gaming consoles, which is a device, not an in-game format. Devices recorded, not scored: smart speakers, digital auto dashes, TVs, wearables, consoles (10-K). Video podcasts: in 2025 Netflix became the exclusive home for video versions of 15 iHeart podcasts (context; not sold as audio). [66, 554] |
| Programmatic access | live | D | Named DSP integrations for iHeart inventory, each from a release: StackAdapt (10 Nov 2025; broadcast, digital radio, streaming and podcasts; "available immediately to StackAdapt clients across the United States"), Viant (18 Dec 2025; through Triton Digital; podcast, streaming and broadcast radio), Amazon DSP (6 Jul 2026; "iHeart Media/Triton" among podcast supply sources, with PMP and Programmatic Guaranteed deals for podcasts and streaming audio). Yahoo DSP is quoted in the AudioGraph release on an "existing partnership" and ConnectID match rates on iHeart digital inventory. DV360's help names "Triton (iHeartMedia)" and The Trade Desk's directory lists "iHeart Media" (stream D; not reopened here). Deal types: PMP and PG (Amazon, 2026); programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals and private auctions for the 2021 podcast PMP (AdExchanger, iHeart statements). Observed supply path: Triton sellers.json seller IDs 7943 iHeartMedia, 105433 iHeartMedia Extended Network and 111563 iHeartMedia PG. VAST 4.x and OpenRTB audio support are not documented for this row (iHeart's own programmatic guide names no DSP, deal type, VAST or OpenRTB version); Triton's exchange specification (OpenRTB 2.5 with some 2.6 fields; VAST 2.0/3.0 and DAAST 1.0) belongs to the subsidiary's rows and is not pooled. Anchor 3: three or more named DSPs and two deal types, without VAST 4.x or OpenRTB documentation. AGENTIC PROTOCOL STATE (shared rule 12, no credit): protocol named: none (Digiday: a matched pair of buyer and seller agents, "one developed by Butler/Till and one by iHeartMedia", connected "using an MCP server"; AdCP runs over MCP, so its use is neither shown nor excluded). Schema representation: not documented for iHeart. Implemented connector: not documented. Interoperability test: not documented. Documented production use: none found. Demonstrated transaction: yes, a pilot announced 20 Aug 2026 (July-August 2026; just under USD 10,000; streaming audio and podcast bought direct for an unnamed US agricultural client). Broadcast radio through agentic transactions: announced for "later this year" (no state). AudioGraph "is designed to integrate with the emerging agentic landscape" (announcement). [397, 398, 190, 605, 599, 137, 139, 135, 142] |
| US availability and coverage | live | A | 10-K: 868 owned and operated stations, all in the US; "Our local sales force services approximately 160 U.S. markets, including 48 of the top 50 markets, and 87 of the top 100 markets"; a National Sales Organization; about 35,000 clients. Contracting entity iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc. (Order Terms). iHeartRadio and podcasts are distributed nationally. International attributes (no credit): Triton operates in over 80 countries; a regional podcasting hub in Qatar (2025). [66, 378] |
| Counting assurance | live | A | Broadcast (third-party system, Nielsen Audio): the 10-K says rates rest on audiences "as measured by independent ratings services" and cites Nielsen rankings. MRC continues accreditation of Nielsen Audio PPM monthly and AQH-based estimates in 24 markets (letter of 20 Nov 2024, updated 18 Sep 2026); 15 of the 24 market rows in iHeart's top-25 station table are among them, and New York, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston-Galveston, San Francisco, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle-Tacoma and Baltimore are not. Nielsen's Audio Diary Service (smaller markets) entered a six-month MRC hiatus on 23 Jun 2026, during which it is "unaudited and unaccredited". Podcast (owned system, Triton group): the iHeartPodcast Network is hosted on Omny Studio and served by TAP (iHeart release, 27 Feb 2023). IAB Tech Lab's record lists Triton Digital (guidelines v2.2; Download, Ad Delivery, Listener; last certified 2025-03-04; AAM report of 28 Feb 2025 marks domain threat filtering Not Supported) and Omny Studio (v2.2; Download, Listener; 2025-02-27; report of 31 Jan 2025). iHeartMedia holds no podcast listing of its own. Both dates are more than 12 months before the freeze, the Compliance Guide's recertification interval, the public page shows no status, and both fall within 24 months. Podtrac (third-party; v2.2 Download and Listener; 2026-07-10) measures iHeart podcasts for its rankings; no source says Podtrac counts are the selling currency. Streaming (iHeartRadio app): no MRC-accredited or IAB-certified counting found; the app's active OM SDK certification (audio, iOS and Android, 29 Jun 2026) certifies the measurement-SDK integration, not counting. Anchor 4: current certification or accreditation covers at least one but not all scored channels (broadcast in 24 PPM markets; podcast ad delivery through the owned Triton chain, integration documented only by the vendor). Sensitivity: if the 12-month recertification interval is read as the validity period, the podcast leg drops and the broadcast leg covers only part of the footprint, which a scorer could place between 2 and 4. Ownership recorded, no credit either way. [66, 278, 15, 108, 606, 6, 118, 554] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | B | (a) Delivery reporting: SmartAudio dashboards (10-K) and transmission data licensed for validation (Order Terms s.6.10); the grain (show, station or app) is not stated, so not counted. (b) Supply path: iheart.com ads.txt lists 583 records across 114 ad systems (166 DIRECT, 416 RESELLER; 8 tritondigital.com and 16 adswizz.com lines) and app-ads.txt 384 records across 89 systems (161 DIRECT; 30 tritondigital.com, 14 adswizz.com), observed 29 Sep 2026; iHeart publishes no sellers.json on iheart.com or iheartmedia.com (HTTP 404); Triton's sellers.json lists iHeartMedia (7943), iHeartMedia Extended Network (105433) and iHeartMedia PG (111563, no domain); owned and represented podcast supply are separated in Podtrac's ranking (iHeartPodcasts, 947 shows; iHeart Audience Network sales network, 26,598 shows), and IOs cover "iHeartMedia and its third-party inventory sources" (Order Terms s.1). Counted. (c) Invalid-traffic filtering: the counting chain for iHeart podcasts is independently certified for general IVT filtering under v2.2 (Triton report: IP threat, user agent, 2-byte range and Apple Watch filtering supported, domain threat not supported; Omny report: all five supported); nothing documented for broadcast or streaming. Counted for podcasts only. (d) Inventory quality attributes (ad load, completion rates, content categories): not documented; the only figure is campaign-specific (48% of pilot podcast impressions in mid-roll). Limit: Order Terms s.6.10 bar advertisers from combining iHeart delivery data with other data or using it for attribution and require its destruction after 30 days. Two components (b, c) give anchor 3. [66, 378, 108, 606, 554, 144, 607, 142] |
| Brand safety and suitability | live | D | (a) Episode-level classification: on 27 Feb 2023 iHeart launched Sounder-powered podcast brand safety that performs "brand suitability analysis, topic analysis, content summarization, and dynamic segmentation, ahead of an ad flight" across the iHeartPodcast Network, working with Omny Studio and TAP; "Brands are now able to opt out of content they deem unsafe and inappropriate." (d) Third-party verification: the 2023 release called this "objective, third-party brand safety verification" while iHeart was "a key partner and strategic investor in Sounder"; Triton Digital, an iHeart subsidiary, announced its acquisition of Sounder on 26 Mar 2024 (AUD-G-S21, qualified), so the classifier is now group-owned and no longer third-party. (b) Show-level allow and block lists and (c) a named suitability framework with levels: not documented in the iHeart sources screened; Triton's Sounder documentation (11 categories, 4 risk levels) is the subsidiary's evidence and is not pooled. No IAS, DoubleVerify, Barometer or Proximic integration for iHeart inventory was found (bounded search, 29 Sep 2026); Comscore's July 2026 Proximic release names Triton Digital, not iHeartMedia. Broadcast and streaming: no content controls documented. Anchor 2 (episode-level exclusion without a third-party verifier). Current availability of the 2023 tool is not restated in any 2026 iHeart source. [278, 279] |

Performance evidence: The agentic buy delivered streaming audio 42 percent more efficiently than the advertiser's direct-buying benchmark; 48% of podcast impressions ran in mid-roll versus 33% in the traditional plan. (vendor assertion, sponsor Butler/Till and iHeartMedia (parties to the pilot)) [397, 398]; Broadcast campaigns planned and measured with AudioGraph IDs "can deliver a KPI outcome 75 percent higher than traditional demo-based plans". (vendor assertion, sponsor iHeartMedia / Triton Digital) [190]; iHeart audio advertising delivers a 38% increase in message awareness and 69% more consumers taking action after hearing ads. (vendor assertion, sponsor iHeartMedia ("iHeartMedia Brand Lift Studies, 2024")) [456]; Dentsu's 2023 audio attention study with Lumen, run with six audio destinations including iHeartMedia, reported 10,126 attentive seconds per 1,000 impressions for audio ads against dentsu norms of 6,501. (vendor assertion, sponsor dentsu with Lumen Research; participating sellers including iHeartMedia (funder not stated)) [233]; 70% of consumers use AI yet 90% want content created by humans; 78% trust product recommendations from their favourite radio hosts. (vendor assertion, sponsor iHeartMedia (internal research)) [377, 376]

### Odeeo (active)

*Sonic Odeeo Ltd. (Israel; registration number 516329976 per a registry aggregator)*

Israeli in-game audio seller; audio units only scored. US reach via DAX US representation, a small US team and one observed Amazon DSP deal.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** A small, venture-funded Israeli seller of audio ads played during mobile gameplay, now reachable by US buyers through DAX, a New York team and DSPs, but multi-format, uncertified and resting on vendor-reported evidence.

- **Strengths.** A third-party buyer found one Odeeo private-auction deal in its Amazon DSP account in July 2026: US only, audio only, on Magnite DV+. (record) [330, 329] DAX's sellers.json lists an 'Odeeo US' account on 29 September 2026, four years after Global named DAX its exclusive UK and US sales partner. (record) [100, 311] Game Emotions targets audio ads on in-game events such as a new high score or a lost life, a context signal below the app level. (vendor claim) [555] Odeeo publishes a sellers.json with a TAG-ID and 226 seller IDs, plus an app-ads.txt naming AdsWizz, Triton, Magnite and DAX as resellers. (record) [556, 557]
- **Weaknesses.** No issuing body certifies its counting: TAG shows enrolment only, and Odeeo is absent from IAB UK, MRC and IAB Tech Lab records on 29 September 2026. (record) [345, 343, 116, 15] Its advertisers page still shows an Oracle MOAT logo, although Moat reached end of life on 30 September 2024. (record) [312, 346] Its 2022 guide conceded 'minimal adverse impact on retention'; current 'no impact' claims publish no test, so they are coded insufficient evidence. (vendor claim) [354, 313] Scale is stated only as 300M+ global monthly active users and 12B+ bid requests, with no period, US figure or audio-only delivery count. (vendor claim) [335, 329] No advertiser self-serve interface, API or buyer brand-safety controls are documented; its Portal serves publishers. (vendor documentation) [313, 310, 312]
- **Opportunities.** Amazon DSP opened self-serve programmatic podcast and streaming audio in July 2026; Odeeo is the only in-game audio source one buyer found there. (inference) [135, 558, 330] Walmart DSP availability, announced 13 August 2026, would pair in-app audio with retail audiences if Walmart's own documentation confirms it. (inference) [331] Publishing the McDonald's Claritas design (30-day lookback) would give Odeeo rare third-party outcome evidence in audio; today it is gated. (inference) [359, 195]
- **Threats.** Google Authorized Buyer status, Unity exchange supply and 11 sellers.json intermediaries blur whether an Odeeo impression is SDK-direct in-game audio. (inference) [315, 316, 556] Audiomob holds IAB UK Gold Standard certification and TAG seals that Odeeo lacks, and both sellers claim overlapping developer partners. (inference) [343, 341, 349, 313] Buyers requiring accredited counting or published retention evidence have reason to wait: this review found neither for in-game audio in the records screened. (inference) [116, 15, 354]

- **What is sold.** Audio ads that play during live mobile gameplay (and, since 2026, in non-game apps), delivered through Odeeo's SDK in partner games: Standard (system-initiated, background audio with an Icon Audio 50x50 or Banner Audio 320x50 visual companion) and Rewarded Audio (opt-in, in exchange for in-game rewards). Serving depends on device volume (10% minimum for system-initiated and 20% for rewarded, per a third-party buyer relaying Odeeo). Direct buyers can add Game Emotions in-game event targeting. Since 2025-2026 the same platform also sells display, video and native, which belong to the gaming paper.
- **Who buys it.** Brand and performance advertisers and agencies, directly (Odeeo sales, New York team since 2024), through DAX (Global's sales business, UK and US) and programmatically through DSPs: Amazon DSP (one US private-auction deal observed July 2026), Walmart DSP (announced August 2026) and, historically, Xandr Invest. AdsWizz's self-serve AudioGo lists Odeeo as a publisher. Named campaigns include McDonald's (US, Asian American audiences), Costa Coffee, EE, Hyundai, DWP and Red Bull.
- **How it earns.** Advertising revenue shared with game developers who integrate the SDK (developers are paid for impressions: the privacy policy lists 'To calculate the monetization payments'). Publishers set per-placement floors (SDK 3.7). No revenue, take rate or CPM is disclosed; a company-stated 566% net revenue growth in 2023 is the only financial indicator found.
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Supply: SDK integrations with casual and hypercasual game developers (sellers.json: 226 seller IDs, 762 publisher entries), plus 11 intermediary accounts (Unity, ironSource, Verve, Digital Turbine/Fyber, Smaato, LoopMe and others), Google partner inventory as an Authorized Buyer (2026) and Unity exchange supply (announced June 2026). Demand routes depend on SSPs and exchanges (Magnite, AdsWizz, Triton, DAX, Xandr per app-ads.txt) and on DSPs (Amazon, Walmart). Data: mobile ad ID, IP-derived country, user agent and device details, with consent collected by publishers' CMPs; NumberEight segments; measurement relies on OM SDK and, formerly, Oracle Moat (retired 30 Sep 2024).
- **Differentiation.** One of two specialist in-game audio sellers found (with Audiomob), selling audio that plays during gameplay rather than in breaks. The only in-game audio source a third-party buyer found among 246 audio deals in its Amazon DSP account (July 2026). In-game event targeting (Game Emotions) is a content-level context signal below the app level, unusual in audio. Volume-gated serving from the SDK (impressions do not fire below a device-volume threshold, per vendor statements). Machine-readable supply chain published: sellers.json with TAG-ID and an app-ads.txt listing audio exchanges (AdsWizz, Triton, DAX).
- **Risks.** Scope drift: multi-format and exchange-sourced supply (Google, Unity, 11 sellers.json intermediaries) make it hard for buyers to know that an Odeeo impression is SDK-direct in-game audio. Stale assurance signals: an Oracle MOAT logo two years after Moat's retirement; a buyer article repeats 'TAG certified' and 'no resold inventory', which the records do not support. Dependence on partner routes (DAX, Amazon DSP, Walmart DSP, SSPs) for US programmatic reach, with only one observed Amazon deal. Retention-cost exposure: its own 2022 guide concedes 'minimal adverse impact'; no published test settles non-inferiority. Small private company (about $15 million raised; about 40 staff in 2024) competing with Audiomob and with in-app audio sold by larger exchanges.
- **Best fit.** US brand advertisers already buying audio in Amazon DSP who want a test line in a gameplay environment (single private-auction deal). Direct buyers wanting moment-based creative tied to in-game events (Game Emotions). Campaigns aimed at casual and hypercasual mobile players where a visual companion with a click-through is useful.
- **Poor fit.** Buyers requiring MRC-accredited or IAB Tech Lab-certified counting, or published attention or retention evidence. Buyers needing buyer-side brand-safety controls (allow and block lists, suitability tiers, verification of content). Buyers needing podcast, radio or streaming music reach, midcore or console games, or a documented US audience figure. Self-serve buyers who want Odeeo's own interface or API rather than a DSP or reseller.
- **Limits.** No issuing-body certification of its counting: TAG enrolment only, not in IAB UK Gold Standard, MRC or IAB Tech Lab records (29 Sep 2026). Scale is stated only as global MAU and bid requests without periods; no US or audio-only delivery figure. No advertiser self-serve interface, API or reporting export of its own; programmatic access relies on partners. Game Emotions, its distinctive targeting, is sold direct only and is not in the Amazon DSP deal. No buyer-applied brand-safety or suitability controls are documented. Retention, attention and outcome claims are vendor-reported without design; case studies sit behind forms.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | D | Three of the four families are documented, all by the vendor or its partners. (a) Content-level context below the app: 'Game Emotions' (launched 2 April 2025) targets audio ads on specific in-game events (a new high score, a defeat, a lost life); Odeeo states it is 'currently available only to direct agency and brand buyers', and a third-party buyer observed in July 2026 that it is not offered through the Amazon DSP deal (S32, relaying Odeeo). No documentation of how events are defined, passed or refreshed was found. (b) Audience data: NumberEight's ID-less 'Affinity Audience' segments integrated into Odeeo inventory (release, 8 May 2025; segments named include Gen Z, Affluent Consumers, Multicultural Voices, Sports Fans); the privacy policy (May 2025) lists 'To serve behavioral ads' and 'To apply market research to generate audience insights' among ad-serving purposes, using mobile ad ID, IP-derived country, user agent and device details. (d) Delivery context: 'app category, environment, geography, device, or time of day' (September 2026 post); IP 'country location' (privacy policy). (c) Advertiser first-party data onboarding: not documented by Odeeo; Amazon shopping audiences layered in Amazon DSP are the DSP's function, not Odeeo's. Anchor 4 (three families from vendor sources); family (a) rests on a launch blog (grade D), so the cap is 3. [555, 608, 310, 195, 330] |
| Creative | live | D | One family documented: (d) companion and interactive formats. Icon Audio (a 50x50 visual plus the audio ad), Banner Audio (320x50 plus audio) and Rewarded Audio (opt-in) on the advertisers page; in Amazon DSP the Odeeo deal runs as an audio line item with a 1024x1024 companion image, optional 300x250 companion, headline, click-through URL and optional third-party impression tracker (S32, observed by a third-party buyer). The Game Emotions launch post says creative 'can be tailored to speak to that moment' and 'We can work with you to create and test the right messages' (creative support, family d; no production process described). No dynamic serve-time creative (a), host-read programme (b) or synthetic voice offer (c) was found in the sources screened. Anchor 2. [312, 555, 330] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | D | Two components documented. (a) Delivery counting: the SDK reads device volume on or off and the volume level for every impression, and the Odeeo SDK 'incorporates the Open Measurement SDK' (July 2023); the advertisers page says 'we deliver based on device volume and industry standard viewability'. Odeeo cited a MOAT 10% device-volume threshold in 2023; MOAT reached end of life on 30 September 2024 (Oracle), yet an 'Oracle MOAT' logo still appears on the advertisers page. The counting standard for in-game audio is Odeeo's own definition; no guideline equivalent to the podcast guidelines applies. (d) Third-party integrations: OM SDK lets advertisers use DoubleVerify or IAS (2023 vendor statement; a 2026 third-party buyer article repeats it without its own test); Claritas measured outcomes on the McDonald's campaign (case study, 30-day lookback). (b) Attribution method with match level: not disclosed. (c) Lift with a control group as an integrated function: not documented; brand-lift results are reported per campaign (Costa Coffee +15 points awareness with DAX Mobile Gaming; 'double-digit brand lift' in 2023) without design. Anchor 3 (two components); vendor articles and case studies, grade D. [332, 312, 346, 359, 195, 362, 330] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | D | No buyer-side outcome objective, in-flight optimisation, or pacing and frequency controls offered by Odeeo itself were found in the sources screened (searches logged 29 Sep 2026). Frequency and floors are publisher-side controls: the 2022 guide tells developers to A/B test how often audio ads run, and SDK 3.7 (4 Sep 2025) adds 'Custom floor price configuration per placement'. The inventory can be bought as a private-auction deal inside Amazon DSP (observed by a third-party buyer, checked 17 Jul 2026), where bidding and audience layering run in the DSP; neither Odeeo nor Amazon documents optimisation specific to this deal. Anchor 2 (optimisation only through a partner DSP, integration documented by observation); the optimisation functions themselves are the DSP's and are inferred, so the grade is D. [330, 329, 314, 354] |
| Buyer workflow | live | D | Direct buying is by contact ('Book us a demo'; Game Emotions via 'your Odeeo representative'). No advertiser self-serve interface, public campaign or reporting API, or advertiser reporting export is documented by Odeeo. The 'Odeeo Portal' is a publisher tool ('self-service platform ... handing control over placements', reporting dashboards) per the developers page and the privacy policy. Third-party workflows reach the inventory: AdsWizz's self-serve AudioGo has an Odeeo publisher page (undated), and Amazon DSP and Walmart DSP carry it; these are the partners' products and are not credited to Odeeo. Anchor 1 (managed service or insertion order only). [312, 313, 310, 555, 336] |
| Inventory scale | live | D | Metric: monthly active users of games with Odeeo's SDK, global only, no US figure. About page (undated): '300M+ Monthly Active Users', '12B+ Monthly Bid Requests', '1000+ Premium Mobile Games', '150+ Country Market Reach'; the 11 March and 17 April 2026 posts repeat 300M+ MAU 'served through direct SDK integrations'. Older or other series: AudioGo page 'over 800 mobile games', 'over 140 million monthly active users' (undated); GamesBeat (Sep 2024, company-supplied) 15 million daily active users and ad requests up tenfold to 100 billion in 2023; a July 2026 buyer article relays '1,500+ games'. None gives a period definition, deduplication, or audio-only impressions; since 2025-2026 the same supply also carries display, video and native. Bid requests are opportunities, not deliveries, and are not used. On the 300M+ MAU figure the raw threshold is anchor 5 (100 million or more); the dimension caps a global-only figure at 4 and vendor marketing caps at 3. [335, 329, 315, 336, 337] |
| Channel breadth | live | D | One of the five channels: in-game audio. Within it, system-initiated Standard audio in the background of gameplay and opt-in Rewarded audio; since 2026 Odeeo also describes its audio inventory as 'across mobile apps and games' (Walmart post) including non-game apps (September 2026 post), which fits none of the other four channels. No broadcast, satellite, streaming music or podcast inventory. Devices recorded separately: a third-party buyer reports that about a third of the Amazon DSP deal's delivery was desktop (figure not independently read here). Anchor 2 (one channel with two or more delivery methods or content formats: game and non-game app audio; standard and rewarded). A scorer who treats standard and rewarded as ad formats rather than delivery methods, and non-game apps as out of scope, would place this at 1. [312, 313, 331, 195, 330] |
| Programmatic access | live | B | Named DSPs: Amazon DSP (Odeeo announcement 11 March 2026; a third-party buyer observed in its own Amazon DSP account one Odeeo deal, a private auction on Magnite DV+, US only, audio only, checked 17 July 2026) and Walmart DSP (Odeeo announcement 13 August 2026 'working with Walmart Connect'; no Walmart document found). Xandr Invest DSP was named in November 2022 (currency not established). Supply-side routes: Magnite (2023, and the SSP for the Amazon deal), Xandr Monetize SSP (2022), AdsWizz (AudioGo publisher page; 16 adswizz.com lines in Odeeo's app-ads.txt), Triton Digital (6 lines) and DAX (4 lines; DAX sellers.json lists 'Odeeo US' as an intermediary). Deal types: private auction observed; programmatic guaranteed and open auction not documented. VAST 4.x and OpenRTB audio object support: not documented in the sources screened. Google Authorized Buyer status (17 April 2026) is Odeeo buying Google partner inventory, a buy-side route, not a DSP integration for its own supply. Agentic protocol state (shared rule 12, no credit): no protocol or version recorded; schema representation n/a to the seller; implemented connector, interoperability test, production use and transaction all not found; Odeeo is not among the 34 agents in AgenticAdvertising.org's registry (29 Sep 2026) and a web search found no AdCP or agentic reference. Anchor 3 (one or two named DSPs); the Amazon route rests on independent observation (grade B). [329, 331, 330, 362, 609, 557, 100, 336, 315, 3] |
| US availability and coverage | live | B | US availability is documented through a representative and a US office, not as national coverage. Global's release (13 June 2022) appointed DAX as Odeeo's 'exclusive sales partner in the UK and in the US'; DAX's sellers.json (observed 29 Sep 2026) lists 'Odeeo US' (seller_id 5288, INTERMEDIARY, comment 'DAX US'). Odeeo hired a US Commercial Lead (April 2024 release) and a co-founder moved to New York to open its 'first full American office' (GamesBeat, September 2024); its About page lists a 'US Sales Development Representative' opening. A third-party buyer observed the Amazon DSP deal as 'US only'. US campaign examples: McDonald's with Admerasia (Asian American audiences). No US audience, impression or game count and no filing or official record was found; whether DAX's US exclusivity still holds alongside Odeeo's own US team and DSP routes is not stated. Anchor 3 (US availability through a US office or representative for part of the inventory). [311, 100, 610, 337, 335, 330, 359] |
| Counting assurance | unconfirmed | E | No issuing-body record covers Odeeo's counting chain. Checked 29 September 2026: TAG registry, 'Odeeo is currently enrolled in the Verified by TAG program' with no seal (enrolment is not certification, and TAG programmes cover fraud and piracy, not counting); IAB UK Gold Standard directory, not listed; MRC digital accreditation page, not listed (no audio service appears at all); IAB Tech Lab compliant companies, not listed in any tab, including OM SDK compliance. No IAB Tech Lab counting guideline or compliance programme exists for in-game audio (the podcast programme does not apply); the IAB Gaming Measurement Framework is a metrics framework, not a certification (AUD-H-S48). The counting system is Odeeo's own SDK (owned; recorded, no credit either way); its MOAT verification integration (April 2022) ended with Moat's end of life on 30 September 2024. Odeeo displays TAG, IAB and IAB UK logos, which are logos, not a stated claim of certification, so anchor 1 is not applied. Record silent: n/e. [345, 343, 116, 15, 347, 346, 312] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | D | Three components documented from vendor sources. (a) App-level delivery reporting to buyers: claimed ('know exactly where your ads are running', advertisers page; 'full visibility into where their ads ran', 2023), no report specification. (b) Supply-path disclosure, observed 29 Sep 2026: sellers.json with 773 entries (226 distinct seller IDs; 762 PUBLISHER, 11 INTERMEDIARY including Unity, ironSource, Verve Group Europe, Digital Turbine/Fyber, Smaato, LoopMe, AnyClip, display.io; 2 confidential; TAG-ID declared) and an 89-line app-ads.txt; DAX's sellers.json lists Odeeo UK, US and IE as intermediaries. (d) Quality attributes: '80%+ Listen Through Rate', '1.5% Click-Through Rate', '100% Viewability' (undated), LTR defined in 2022 as ads finished divided by ads played; ads last 10 to 50 seconds (GamesBeat 2024). (c) Invalid-traffic filtering with a method or independent certification: not documented (2022 mention of 'internal traffic quality assurance tools'; TAG enrolment without a seal; privacy policy lists fraud prevention as a purpose). The sellers.json intermediaries conflict with the 2023 statement that every ad runs on Odeeo's directly integrated SDK 'never through an ad buy or arbitrage'. Anchor 4; (a) and (d) rest on marketing (grade D), cap 3. [312, 332, 556, 557, 100, 354, 337, 347, 345] |
| Brand safety and suitability | unconfirmed | E | No buyer-applied content controls were found in the sources screened (searches logged 29 Sep 2026): no app- or game-level allow or block lists for advertisers (b), no content classification (a), no suitability framework with categories (c), and no third-party brand-safety verification integration (d). The OM SDK integration (2023) is described for audibility and viewability, not content verification. Other material is adjectival or not Odeeo's control: 'brand-safe' placements (2026 posts), '100% brand safety and control' (2022 release), exchange supply that runs 'within Google's content policy framework' (Google inventory only), and a publisher-set 'Kids Safe-Mode' that limits data collection and ad types for users treated as children (privacy policy). Record silent on buyer controls: n/e. [329, 315, 609, 310, 332] |

Performance evidence: 'no impact over retention metrics' and 'up to 10%' incremental ad revenue for developers (Standard unit). (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo) [313]; 'minimal adverse impact on retention and playtime'; studios increased ARPDAU by 4% to 7% in the US (2022). (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo) [354]; McDonald's (Admerasia): +50% installs, +50% registrations, LTR 90.37%, CTR 3.13% (Nov 2025); later reported as +15% orders (Sep 2026). (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo; Claritas named as measurer, payer not stated) [359, 195]; Costa Coffee (with DAX Mobile Gaming): 15 percentage point increase in awareness. (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo) [195]; '25X more effective than the streaming audio benchmark'; 1.5% CTR; 80%+ LTR; 100% viewability. (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo) [312]; Hyundai Ioniq 6 (with AdsWizz, Havas, Innocean): 1.3% in-game-audio-to-test-drive conversion, 6.3% banner CTR, 8,000+ leads; EE: +10% awareness, +14% perception, +10% purchase intent; average CTR about 1-1.5%. (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo (figures supplied to GamesBeat)) [337]; 'we've seen a double-digit brand lift and favorability' (2023). (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo (in a Magnite interview)) [362]; Developer case studies: Rocket Studio +10% revenue, Lihuhu up to +8% ad revenue, MondayOFF 7% incremental revenue, each 'without impacting' retention. (vendor assertion, sponsor Odeeo) [313, 351, 352]

### SiriusXM Media (active)

*Pandora Media, LLC, doing business as SiriusXM Media (sells for Pandora Media, SiriusXM Media Inc. and contracted entities)*

Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media sells SiriusXM satellite, Pandora, SoundCloud US and podcast audio; YouTube audio representation not confirmed live at cutoff.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** The only seller combining satellite radio, Pandora and SoundCloud streaming and a top-two US podcast network on its own AdsWizz rail, with certified podcast counting but thin public measurement detail.

- **Strengths.** Sells three audio channels under one group: SiriusXM satellite, Pandora and SoundCloud streaming, and the SiriusXM Podcast Network, ranked second by US weekly reach in Q1 2026. (record) [34, 34, 97] Its podcast counting system holds IAB Tech Lab v2.2 certification (report dated 30 April 2025), and Pandora holds IAB Tech Lab Data Transparency certification (December 2025). (record) [15, 107] Display & Video 360, Amazon DSP and The Trade Desk list its inventory through the group-owned AdsWizz rail, with PMP and programmatic guaranteed deals. (vendor documentation) [132, 135, 134] Specification pages document host-read, live-read and announcer-read processes, A Million Ads dynamic creative and free Studio Resonate production for SiriusXM spots. (vendor documentation) [559, 560, 561]
- **Weaknesses.** Pandora's ad revenue per thousand listener hours fell 9% to USD 91.78 in 2025, and SiriusXM segment advertising revenue fell 6% to USD 157 million. (record) [34] No MRC accreditation covers its streaming or satellite counting, and its podcast certificate marks client-confirmed ad play not applicable and domain threat filtering unsupported. (record) [116, 107] It names attribution and lift partners but publishes no match level, match rate or control-group design, and its ROAS case studies state no design. (vendor claim) [514, 562, 563] Audience totals conflict across its own documents: 150, 160, 170 and 255 million, the last apparently including YouTube audio not yet live. (record) [564, 565, 34, 35]
- **Opportunities.** Google stopped new US YouTube audio campaigns in its tools from 1 September 2026, leaving SiriusXM Media as the US sales route once its Fall 2026 launch happens. (inference) [37, 36] Podcasts, programmatic demand and technology fees drove Pandora and Off-platform advertising up 5% in H1 2026, suggesting growth is shifting away from streaming music. (inference) [65] Amazon DSP access (July 2026) and RampID across streaming and podcast inventory (May 2026) widen addressable programmatic demand for Pandora and podcasts. (inference) [566, 567]
- **Threats.** Its podcast certification was last listed on 15 May 2025 against an annual recertification rule, so a lapse would remove its only standards-body counting assurance. (inference) [15, 20] Represented supply (SoundCloud since 2019, licensed podcasts, YouTube from Fall 2026) rests on agreements whose terms are not public and could be renegotiated. (inference) [447, 34, 36] Pandora's own experiment found each extra ad per hour cut listening time by about 2%, which limits how far ad load can grow on owned streaming. (inference) [224]

- **What is sold.** Audio ads (plus display, video and rewarded formats) on SiriusXM satellite radio (30- and 60-second spots, live reads and sponsorships on 72 ad-supported talk channels and select SiriusXM Play music channels), the SiriusXM Streaming Network (Pandora, SiriusXM streaming, SoundCloud US inventory as exclusive representative, and partner publishers the FAQ names as Audiomack and idobi), and the SiriusXM Podcast Network (owned, licensed and represented shows; host-read, announcer-read and custom ads). Sold by Direct IO and programmatically through the AdsWizz SSP in buyers' DSPs; self-serve buying is routed to AudioGO (an AdsWizz product listed separately). In-house creative by Studio Resonate. YouTube audio-first inventory is scheduled, not live.
- **Who buys it.** National brands and agencies buying direct and programmatically, small and medium businesses (routed to AudioGO for self-serve), and retail media network campaigns that add Pandora audio off-site (S50). No public customer count or concentration disclosure was found for the advertising business.
- **How it earns.** Advertising revenue recorded in two segments of Sirius XM Holdings: SiriusXM (USD 157M in 2025) and Pandora and Off-platform (USD 1,615M in 2025), recorded net of agency fees and gross of revenue share paid to third parties. For licensed third-party podcasts the company generally acts as agent for the sale of advertising (AUD-B-S03). Pricing is not published ('Ads pricing varies'); rewarded video formats bill only on a completed 15-second view (S20).
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Supply: owned platforms (SiriusXM, Pandora), represented platforms (SoundCloud US since 2019, podcasts under multi-year licences, YouTube audio from Fall 2026 as scheduled). Ad technology: group-owned AdsWizz (ad serving, insertion and SSP) and Simplecast (hosting), whose certified podcast counting the seller relies on. Data: logged-in listener data, 20+ third-party data partners for streaming segments, Comscore Predictive Audiences on podcasts, LiveRamp RampID and The Trade Desk's UID2 for identity, Barometer and Proximic by Comscore for podcast suitability, IAS for invalid-traffic and audibility measurement on Pandora. Buyers reach it programmatically only through DSPs (Display & Video 360, Amazon DSP, The Trade Desk).
- **Differentiation.** Only seller in the sample combining satellite radio, streaming music and a top-two US podcast network (Edison weekly reach, Q1 2026) under one sales group. Exclusive US representation of SoundCloud (since 2019) and, from Fall 2026 as scheduled, YouTube audio-first inventory. Owns its programmatic rail (AdsWizz), which Display & Video 360 lists as 'AdsWizz (Sirius XM/Pandora)'. Documented host-read and live-read processes with a 300+ host roster and in-house creative at no additional charge for SiriusXM spots. IAB Tech Lab Data Transparency certification for Pandora's audience data.
- **Risks.** Pandora ad RPM fell 9% in 2025 and SiriusXM segment advertising revenue fell 6%; growth depends on podcasts, programmatic and technology fees (filings). Dependence on representation agreements (SoundCloud, licensed podcasts, YouTube) whose terms were not available. Recertification risk: the podcast certification is listed with a date more than 12 months old against an annual rule. YouTube audio onboarding is scheduled but unobserved; audience claims already use a total that appears to include it. Privacy and AI risk factors named in the 10-K (privacy laws may hinder selling advertising; AI use could create reputational and legal liability).
- **Best fit.** National advertisers wanting one buy across satellite, Pandora/SoundCloud streaming and a large podcast network with host reads. Programmatic buyers already on Display & Video 360, Amazon DSP or The Trade Desk who want PMP or PG access to Pandora and podcast inventory. Retail media and in-car reach plans where logged-in streaming data and satellite in-vehicle audience matter.
- **Poor fit.** Buyers needing MRC-accredited counting for streaming or satellite, or client-confirmed podcast ad plays. Buyers needing documented person-level attribution or controlled lift as an integrated function from the seller. Broadcast radio or in-game audio plans (not sold). Buyers wanting a seller-operated self-serve API (self-serve is AdsWizz's AudioGO).
- **Limits.** Counting assurance covers podcast delivery only, through a group-owned system whose last IAB Tech Lab certification date (15 May 2025) is more than 12 months before the cutoff; streaming and satellite counting has no MRC accreditation in the lists read. No attribution match level or rate, lift control design, public API or reporting portal is documented by SiriusXM Media itself. Most capability evidence is vendor marketing (grade D); specification pages (grade C) cover creative and ad-serving mechanics only. Audience totals are company estimates without method and differ across documents (150M, 160M, 170M, 255M). Advertising revenue lines mix audio with display, video and AdsWizz technology fees, and podcasts are not split out.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | D | All four families are documented, none in operational detail. (a) Content below show level: contextual transcription targeting 'down to the episode level' mapped to IAB Content Taxonomy segments (S35); Barometer episode-level pre-bid suitability targeting for direct and programmatic buys (S36); language, content category, activity, mood and mindset targeting (S05). (b) Audience data: logged-in listener data ('Our listeners are logged in 100% of the time', S43); 'hundreds of proprietary segments ... built using 20+ third-party data partners' on streaming and '300+ predictive behaviors' on podcasts (S04); Pandora holds IAB Tech Lab Data Transparency certification (Data Transparency 1.2, Audience Taxonomy 1.1, last certified 2025-12-22) in the standards body's record (S23), which certifies segment labelling, not targeting performance. (c) Advertiser first-party data: 'database matching' (S05, S43), retail media network point-of-sale data (S50), LiveRamp RampID 'currently available across SiriusXM Media's streaming and podcast inventory' (S34, 28 May 2026), UID2 on Pandora through AdsWizz (S33, June 2024). (d) Delivery context: demographics, geography down to county or MSA, device, daypart, genre and listening activity (S05, S43, S11). No page states how segments are defined or refreshed. [611, 514, 270, 286, 449, 612, 567, 564, 15, 613] |
| Creative | live | C | Three families live in vendor specification pages; synthetic voice is beta. (a) Dynamic creative: 'Our exclusive partnership with A Million Ads enables real-time personalized audio creative at scale', served 'via VAST tag created by A Million Ads', six to eight weeks to build; sequential audio served by exposure to a prior message (S15). (b) Host and personality reads with a documented process: '300+ exclusive hosts' (S08); client scripts 'copyedited and reformatted by Studio Resonate and sent directly to show hosts', eight to ten business days (S16); SiriusXM 60-second live reads on an official script template (S19); announcer reads cast from a dedicated roster, three to seven business days (S17). (d) In-house production by Studio Resonate, free of charge for SiriusXM spots (S18, S21), plus interactive rewarded formats (Sponsored Listening, Video Plus, Happy Hour) (S20). (c) Synthetic voice with controls: Narrativ AI voice replicas in the AdMaker self-service tool, announced 17 June 2025, with voice-actor opt-in, licensing payment and approval of every ad by both voice actor and advertiser (S42); a spokesperson called it beta (AUD-I-S26); general availability not found. Not pooled: AdsWizz's AudioGO synthetic voice ads (AUD-I-F17) belong to the AudioGO listing. Advertiser creative on Pandora is subject to published content guidelines with final approval at Pandora's discretion (S22). [559, 560, 614, 615, 616, 561, 617, 618, 370, 619, 371] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | C | Two of four components documented. (a) Delivery counting: podcast delivery counted by a system certified to IAB Tech Lab guidelines v2.2 (Ad Delivered supported; Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable') (S24, S25); streaming audio ads are site-served and 'can be tracked with a 1x1 impression pixel' (S15); a post-campaign package of 'impressions, reach, and frequency' (S43). (d) Working third-party integrations: IAS audible-impression (two consecutive seconds with sound on), quartile and invalid-traffic measurement on Pandora inventory (S39); Innovid ad-server integration delivering impression data for media mix models (S40, June 2025); RampID for measurement (S34). (b) Attribution: partners are named (ArtsAI, Claritas, LeadsRX, S04; Foursquare, Cuebiq, InMarket for location) and generic advice on promo codes and pixels (AUD-E-S17), but no match level, match rate or lookback is documented by SiriusXM Media: not met. (c) Lift: brand-lift partners named (Kantar Millward Brown, Nielsen, Lucid, Upwave, Signal Hill Insights, Veritonic) and 'many of these studies are available as added-value' (S06), with no control-group design described: not met. VideoAmp VXP (S41) is a planning integration and is not counted. [107, 620, 559, 449, 298, 621, 567, 514, 622, 623, 186] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | D | No outcome objective or automated in-flight optimisation is documented for SiriusXM Media's own sales. Documented: Amazon DSP buyers can buy Pandora and SiriusXM Podcast Network inventory through the AdsWizz SSP with PMP and PG deals (S31, S32), which leaves optimisation to the buyer's DSP; RampID is said to give 'more effective optimization' for programmatic buyers (S34); Video Plus and Happy Hour are billed only 'when a listener watches a full 15 seconds' (S20), a completed-view price, not an outcome objective; post-campaign reach and frequency are reported (S43), but no frequency cap or pacing control is described. Results are published as case studies without design or comparator (S44, S45). [135, 566, 567, 617, 449, 562, 563] |
| Buyer workflow | live | D | Managed service and insertion orders ('Direct IO') and programmatic through the buyer's DSP (S07, S06); reporting is a 'comprehensive reporting package ... at the end of the campaign' (S43). The self-serve route SiriusXM Media offers is AudioGO (S07, S14), which is an AdsWizz product listed separately in the register and is not pooled into this row. No SiriusXM Media reporting portal, public API or developer documentation was found (searched 29 Sep 2026). Innovid's automated impression-data delivery for media mix models (S40) is a partner integration, not a buyer workflow. [448, 622, 449, 565, 621] |
| Inventory scale | live | A | Scored metric: monthly audience. The 10-K says 'We believe we reached a combined monthly audience of approximately 170 million listeners as of December 31, 2025' and that SiriusXM Media reaches about 170 million monthly listeners (S01; AUD-B-S03); the figure is a company estimate with no stated method, and the passages read do not say it is US-only, so the dimension's rule for a figure not stated as US caps it at 4 (the grade, A, does not cap). Kept apart: Pandora 41.1 million monthly active users at 31 Dec 2025 (S01); Pandora ad-supported listener hours 9.75 billion in 2025, a server-side count (AUD-B-S03); marketing figures of 70 million monthly podcast listeners (S08), 76 million monthly streaming listeners (S09) and 33 million SiriusXM subscribers on 72 ad-supported talk channels (S10); Edison Research at SSRS ranked the SiriusXM Podcast Network second among US networks by weekly reach in Q1 2026 (AUD-B-S36). Excluded: the 255 million figure (S34, S46), which the YouTube page presents as reach extended by YouTube audio (S13), not live at the cutoff. SoundCloud's US inventory is counted here once. [34, 616, 624, 625, 35, 567, 36, 34, 97] |
| Channel breadth | live | A | Three of five channels: satellite radio (SiriusXM segment advertising, 72 ad-supported talk channels plus select music on SiriusXM Play), streaming music and digital radio (Pandora, SoundCloud US, SiriusXM streaming; S11, S12), and podcasts (SiriusXM Podcast Network, licensed and represented shows). The 10-K reports advertising in the SiriusXM segment (satellite and app) and the Pandora and Off-platform segment (including podcasts) (S01; AUD-B-S03). No broadcast radio or in-game audio. Devices (in-car, connected home, mobile, web) recorded separately and not scored (S06, S09). [34, 625, 624, 616, 613, 447, 34] |
| Programmatic access | live | C | Three named DSPs: Display & Video 360 lists 'AdsWizz (Sirius XM/Pandora)' among its supported audio exchanges (S30); Amazon DSP buyers can buy Pandora and SiriusXM Podcast Network inventory through the AdsWizz SSP (S31, S32, July 2026); The Trade Desk's partner directory lists Pandora, Soundcloud and AdsWizz as audio inventory (AUD-D-S07), and UID2 on Pandora came from an AdsWizz agreement with The Trade Desk (S33). Deal types: PMP and programmatic guaranteed (S31), 'direct deals and private marketplaces' (S32), and a 'non-guaranteed programmatic auction at the top of our ad stack, above our Direct IO business' (S06). Not found: VAST 4.x or OpenRTB audio support stated for SiriusXM Media inventory (only unversioned 'VAST tag' for A Million Ads creative, S15). All programmatic access runs on the group-owned AdsWizz rail. Agentic protocol states (shared rule 12, no credit): protocol none named; schema representation only generically (AdCP v3.1.24 has radio, streaming_audio and podcast channels, AUD-I-F01); implemented connector, interoperability test, production use and transaction: none found (AUD-I-F14, qualified); no SiriusXM or AdsWizz agent in the AgenticAdvertising.org registry on 28 Sep 2026 (AUD-I-S14); a July 2026 blog says AdsWizz is 'preparing for agentic buying in audio' (S49), an announcement-level statement. [132, 135, 566, 564, 622, 559, 626, 134, 3] |
| US availability and coverage | live | A | National US coverage with a US sales operation in a filing: the 10-K describes SiriusXM Media as the company's advertising sales group across SiriusXM (a national satellite service), Pandora and podcast networks, headquartered at 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York (S01; AUD-B-S03). SiriusXM Media is also the exclusive US ad sales representative for SoundCloud (S12; AUD-U-S16) and, from Fall 2026 as scheduled, for YouTube audio (S46, S47). International breadth (attribute only): the FAQ says 'the bulk of our business is centered on engaging audiences in the US' and names Canada, Puerto Rico and the UK (S14). [34, 447, 565, 36, 37, 34, 34] |
| Counting assurance | live | A | Podcast delivery only. IAB Tech Lab's record lists AdsWizz (Ad Delivery) and Simplecast (Download, Listener) under guideline version 2.2, last certified 2025-05-15, both linking one report issued to Sirius XM Holdings Inc. dated 30 April 2025 (S23, S24). The report marks Ad Delivered supported, Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable' and domain threat filtering 'Not Supported'. Integration: documented only by the seller, whose blog says SiriusXM Media is certified to v2.2 and names AdsWizz and Simplecast as the podcast network's technology (S25). The certified system is group-owned (recorded; no credit either way). Streaming (Pandora, SoundCloud, SiriusXM streaming) and satellite: no MRC accreditation or audit in progress found in the MRC Digital, Multimedia and Radio lists on 29 Sep 2026 (S26). Currency: the last certification date is more than 12 months before the cutoff, the Compliance Guide sets annual recertification (AUD-C-S08) and the public record shows no status column (AUD-C-F13), so whether the certification is current cannot be settled from public sources; the anchor assumes the listing is current and must be rechecked at the freeze. [15, 107, 620, 116, 20] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | A | Three of four components, the podcast counting chain in operational detail. (a) Show-level reporting: the certified system supports content and ad metrics 'at 3 levels – publisher/show/episode' (S24); the seller claims 'bid stream transparency at the network, show, and episodic level' (S08). (b) Supply path: pandora.com/sellers.json lists two PUBLISHER sellers, Pandora (239_3) and SoundCloud (115535218), under AdsWizz's TAG-ID, and Pandora's entry uses the malformed key 'seller_type ' with a trailing space (S27, observed 29 Sep 2026); pandora.com ads.txt has 7 records, 4 of them adswizz.com (S28); siriusxm.com ads.txt lists adswizz.com lines including 'SXM Podcasts' (RESELLER) and 'Stitcher' (S29); owned versus represented supply is stated for SoundCloud (S12) and podcasts (agent for licensed shows, AUD-B-S03). (c) Invalid traffic: the podcast certification documents IP threat, user-agent, 2-byte-range and auto-download filtering as supported and domain threat filtering as not supported (S24); IAS measures invalid traffic on Pandora (S39); IAB Tech Lab's OM SDK list includes Pandora web (2026-07-20) and mobile app (2026-01-16) and SoundCloud mobile app (2025-10-28) (S23). (d) Quality attributes: only marketing claims (SiriusXM '50% fewer ads than terrestrial radio', S10; SoundCloud video '95% viewability' and '90% video completion', S12); no ad load or listen-through rates published. [107, 616, 151, 627, 628, 447, 298, 15, 625, 34] |
| Brand safety and suitability | live | D | All four components described, in vendor marketing only, and for podcasts only. (a) Episode-level: contextual transcription targeting 'down to the episode level' (S35) and Barometer episode-level pre-bid evaluation of tone, sentiment and context for direct and programmatic buys (S36, 24 Mar 2026). (b) Show and publisher selection: inventory search 'by inventory sources, show level' (S05); 'controls for preventing your ads from running alongside certain types of content and publishers' (S14). (c) Framework: a brand safety floor 'in accordance with IAB guidelines' plus two tiers, Level 1 limited and Level 2 standard (S35, June 2025); the 2023 page described three levels (S37); no category list is published. (d) Third-party verification: Barometer measurement of suitability via ArtsAI pixels with mid-campaign reporting, beta in September 2023 with stated availability from January 2024 (S37); Proximic by Comscore integration announced 22 July 2026 for brand-safety activation (S38); IAS on Pandora covers invalid traffic and audibility, not suitability (S39). Streaming music: no controls beyond genre are described ('Music has traditionally always been a brand-safe environment', S43). [270, 286, 290, 611, 565, 283, 298, 449] |

Performance evidence: One additional audio ad per hour reduced Pandora listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227% and active days by 1.911% ± 0.130%, and raised paid ad-free subscriptions. (commissioned measurement, sponsor Pandora (experiment run by Pandora; one author affiliated with Sirius XM Pandora)) [224]; A CPG brand's Pandora campaign within a retail media network returned '$11.60 total ROAS' and outperformed category peers on detail page views (+100%) and branded search (+667%). (vendor assertion, sponsor SiriusXM Media) [562]; A QSR coffee campaign achieved '39x ROAS on attributed sales' and '8x incremental ROAS on incremental sales lift', beating Foursquare vertical benchmarks. (vendor assertion, sponsor SiriusXM Media) [563]; Audio ads on the network 'drive a 2% increase in brand favorability and a 2% increase in purchase intent'. (vendor assertion, sponsor SiriusXM Media) [559]; Audio ads 'outperform benchmarks across video, TV, display, and social by more than 50%', citing dentsu's 2023 study. (vendor assertion, sponsor dentsu study with participating sellers including SXM Media) [238, 235]

### Spotify (active)

*Spotify Technology S.A. (seller row operated in the US by Spotify USA Inc., the 'USA operating company'; IO contracting entity not confirmed)*

Seller row for Spotify's ad-supported music and podcast inventory, including SPAN represented podcasts; bought direct, via Ads Manager and API, or Spotify Ad Exchange.

**SWOT (2026-09-28).** Spotify sells audio ads to 494 million Ad-Supported monthly users worldwide through direct, self-serve and exchange routes, but its ad revenue is flat and its in-app impressions carry no certification.

- **Strengths.** Spotify reported 494 million Ad-Supported monthly active users worldwide on 30 June 2026, up 14% year on year; the count is internal and unaudited. (record) [64] One seller offers three buying routes: direct insertion orders, self-serve Ads Manager with a public, versioned API (v3), and its own programmatic exchange, launched April 2025. (vendor documentation) [21, 568, 443] Buyers can target podcast episode topics, playlist context, genres, interests, custom audiences and postal-code geography directly through the Ads API, not only via sales. (vendor documentation) [443] Attribution is free and documented in detail: household-IP matching, a stated 40-80% match rate, and modelling of unmatched impressions that buyers can switch off. (vendor documentation) [176, 199]
- **Weaknesses.** Ad-Supported revenue fell 1% to EUR 1,836 million in 2025 while ad-supported users grew 12%; direct channels shrank in every reported period since. (record) [21, 64] No IAB Tech Lab or MRC record covers Spotify's in-app impressions; only Megaphone's download-based counting is certified, with client-confirmed ad play not applicable. (record) [15, 453, 116] Conversion Lift compares exposed impressions with a time-and-geography matched control, not a randomised holdout, and reports no confidence interval. (vendor documentation) [204] Its exchange names six DSPs against 'over 40' claimed, documents no VAST or OpenRTB version, and sells podcasts through Amazon DSP only as private marketplace deals. (vendor documentation) [22, 158]
- **Opportunities.** Automated channels grew EUR 120 million in H1 2026; if that continues, programmatic could offset the shrinking direct music channel. (inference) [64] Megaphone moved onto the Spotify Ad Server on 15 July 2026, so third-party publishers' direct and private-marketplace demand now flows through Spotify's stack and auction. (inference) [569, 11] IAB Tech Lab's draft v2.3 podcast guidelines add invalid-traffic and measurement-window sections; certifying streamed impressions would close Spotify's counting-assurance gap. (inference) [18, 570]
- **Threats.** Edison's 2026 survey found 37% of US weekly podcast consumers use YouTube most often, overtaking Spotify, which could weaken Spotify's podcast pitch to buyers. (inference) [96] Spotify's 20-F calls uncertain both the revenue effect and the buyer adoption of its shift from download proxies to 'real impressions'. (record) [21] Requiring SPAN-enabled shows for Megaphone private-marketplace deals and dropping third-party VAST ad serving could push publishers that want independent rails to other hosts. (inference) [11, 569]

- **What is sold.** Audio, video and display ads delivered as impressions across Spotify's Ad-Supported Service (music and podcasts; mobile, desktop and web player, with connected TV, car, console and speaker availability varying by market), and podcast ads across Spotify-owned and exclusive podcasts, Megaphone-hosted enterprise publishers and Spotify for Creators podcasts through the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN), which can also insert ads off Spotify. It is sold four ways: direct insertion orders, usually on CPM; self-serve Spotify Ads Manager, an auction with daily or lifetime budgets and reserved fixed-CPM podcast and music products through the API; the Spotify Ad Exchange for DSP buyers (PMP, programmatic guaranteed and auction); and 'advertising marketplace programs'. Custom podcast sponsorships, including host reads, are sold direct only. Free creative tools include AI-generated scripts and synthetic voiceovers in Ads Manager. Measurement add-ons are included at no charge: Spotify Ad Analytics, the Spotify Pixel and Conversions API, Spotify Brand Lift and Conversion Lift.
- **Who buys it.** Advertising agencies buying for their clients, and some large advertisers directly (20-F); self-serve advertisers of all sizes through Ads Manager; programmatic buyers through DSPs connected to SAX (The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, Yahoo DSP, Adform and Hawk are named; 'over 40 DSPs' claimed). Spotify reported that the number of SAX advertisers rose 142% between the April 2025 launch and October 2025 (vendor figure, no base given).
- **How it earns.** Ad-Supported revenue is recognised 'based on the number of impressions delivered'. Direct deals are typically CPM-priced insertion orders. Automated channels (internal and external exchanges, the self-serve platform and marketplace programmes) sell on 'a biddable auction or fixed CPM basis'. SPAN pays podcast publishers under agreements that 'mostly' share revenue and 'can include minimum guarantees'; those payments sit in cost of revenue. The filings opened do not state whether SPAN or exchange revenue is booked gross or net. FY2025: Ad-Supported revenue EUR 1,836 million and Ad-Supported cost of revenue EUR 1,506 million (82% of segment revenue, down from 88%), leaving a derived segment gross profit of about EUR 330 million.
- **Supply and data dependencies.** Supply: Spotify's own streams, owned and exclusive podcasts, and third-party podcasts monetised through SPAN (Megaphone enterprise publishers, Spotify for Creators). The sellers.json observed on 29 September 2026 lists 634 sellers, all PUBLISHER, including Westwood One, Audioboom, Libsyn and seven megaphone.fm-domain sellers. Rails: Spotify runs its own exchange (SAX) and ad server, and its 20-F also names reliance on 'third-party advertising technology platforms' for automated buying. spotify.com ads.txt authorises Google, Magnite (rubiconproject, telaria/tremorhub), Index Exchange and OpenX. Data: first-party demographic, behavioural (genre, interest, artist, playlist) and podcast-episode-topic signals; advertiser lists and pixel or CAPI datasets; identity partners named for SAX (RampID, EUID, ID5, Connect ID, PAIR). Measurement of podcast attribution relies on IP addresses and a household device graph in AU, CA, MX and the US. Demographic data are partly self-reported (20-F). Most podcast apps other than Spotify send no playback data (IAB v2.2), so off-Spotify podcast delivery is counted from server logs.
- **Differentiation.** It combines a self-serve platform with a public, versioned API (v3), reserved fixed-CPM podcast and music products in the API, its own exchange (SAX), and free first-party attribution and lift tools, all under one seller. Podcast ads streamed in the Spotify app are inserted in real time and counted as 'streamed impressions' when played in full, which differs from download-based podcast counting. The 20-F calls the revenue effect of that shift uncertain. Episode-level context (podcast episode topics, sensitive topics) and playlist-level 'real-time context' are exposed as targetable objects in the API, not only through a sales team. Through Megaphone and SPAN, Spotify both hosts third-party podcasts and sells them: since 15 July 2026 Megaphone publishers' direct and PMP campaigns run on the Spotify Ad Server.
- **Risks.** Yield: Ad-Supported MAUs rose 12% in 2025 while Ad-Supported revenue fell 1%, and the direct channel shrank in every 2025-2026 period reported (20-F and 6-Ks). The issuer attributes this to lower fixed CPMs, fewer direct music impressions and FX. Measurement disputes: the 20-F names the shift from download proxies to 'real impressions' and advertisers' reliance on third-party measurement as revenue risks. Listening share: Edison's Podcast Consumer 2026 reports that YouTube is now the service 37% of US weekly podcast consumers use most often, and that Spotify has been overtaken. This concerns primary service, not ad revenue. Platform concentration for publishers: Megaphone PMP deals can deliver only in SPAN-enabled shows and compete with SPAN in Spotify's auction, and third-party VAST ad serving was removed on 15 July 2026. Publishers who want other ad servers or SSPs lose options, though no source documents an effect on price. Regulatory: IP-based attribution depends on privacy law. The 20-F lists evolving privacy laws as a risk to advertising revenue.
- **Best fit.** Buyers who want self-serve or API-driven audio and podcast buying with outcome objectives (clicks, page views, installs, leads) and free first-party attribution, and who accept household-IP matching. Programmatic buyers on The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP or Yahoo DSP who want music and podcast inventory from one seller, with episode-level suitability data from Barometer on The Trade Desk. Advertisers targeting 18-34-year-olds (the 20-F says 'a large percentage' of Ad-Supported users are in that range) across music and podcasts.
- **Poor fit.** Buyers who require IAB- or MRC-certified counting for the impressions they are billed on (Spotify in-app impressions have no certification in the issuing bodies' records). Buyers needing a randomised holdout test with confidence intervals delivered by the seller (Conversion Lift uses a matched control without reported uncertainty). Buyers wanting broadcast radio, satellite radio or in-game audio from the same seller. Buyers who need open-auction podcast inventory, or host-read programmes bought programmatically (podcasts are PMP-only through Amazon DSP; host reads are direct only).
- **Limits.** Ad-Supported revenue is global and includes display and video. No US advertising revenue, podcast advertising revenue or SPAN revenue is disclosed, and the gross-versus-net basis of marketplace revenue is not stated in the passages read. Ad-Supported MAUs are a global count of users who played anything for more than zero milliseconds. They are not an ad audience, are not US, and are not independently validated. Spotify's in-app impressions, the primary counting unit for music and streamed podcast ads, sit outside IAB Tech Lab and MRC certified scope; only Megaphone's download-based counting is certified. Attribution is IP- and household-based (match rate 40-80%, varying by campaign), and unmatched impressions are modelled. Conversion Lift uses a time-and-geography matched control, not a randomised holdout, with no uncertainty reported. SAX podcast inventory is PMP-only in the Amazon DSP documentation. Programmatic guaranteed and open auction apply to music, and open auction to video only. VAST and OpenRTB versions are not documented publicly. Show-level allow or block lists and show-level delivery reports for buyers are not documented in the pages opened. The suitability tiers still reference the discontinued GARM framework.

| Dimension | Availability | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting and context | live | C | Four targeting families documented in vendor developer documentation. (a) Content context below the show: the Ads API v3 exposes 'podcast episode topics' and 'playlist' targeting, which it calls the API name for the UI's 'real-time context targeting'. Spotify's 2023 article says Contextual Topics 'transcribe and analyze podcast episodes'. (b) First-party audience data: artist ('fan'), genre and interest targets, plus demographics. (c) Advertiser first-party data: custom audiences from uploaded user lists and eligible pixel or CAPI datasets, with lookalikes. (d) Delivery context: geography down to country, region, DMA, city and postal code, plus language. SAX adds identity solutions (RampID, EUID, ID5, Connect ID, PAIR). No public document describes how segments or topics are defined, refreshed or validated. [443, 568, 22, 287, 629] |
| Creative | live | C | Two families documented. (c) Synthetic voice: free AI script generation (up to 500 words) and voiceovers from 'Spotify's Text-to-Speech service' in North American and British accents, exclusive to Ads Manager and not available through the API. The only control documented is manual review of every ad by the Ad Review team. The help page states no listener-disclosure or voice-consent control, but the voices are Spotify's own, so actor consent may not arise. Coding this as family (c) rests on that approval control; without it, it would be family (d). (d) Interactive and companion formats: companion display, optional Canvas video, a podcast call-to-action card and a clickable CTA, with production through the Spotify Partner Network. (b) Host reads: offered only as 'custom podcast sponsorships (such as host-read ads)' through a Spotify rep, with no documented process or scale, so not counted. (a) Dynamic creative assembled at serve time: not documented in the pages opened. A Split Testing tool (October 2025) tests creative variants, which is not dynamic assembly. [366, 365, 630, 631, 443, 141] |
| Measurement and attribution functionality | live | C | (a) Delivery counting: revenue is recognised on impressions delivered. For podcasts streamed in the Spotify app, Spotify uses streaming ad insertion and says it is shifting 'from downloads to real impressions' (20-F). No public counting standard is named for in-app impressions (see counting_assurance). (b) Attribution: Spotify Ad Analytics, free and integrated for all Spotify direct-sold media, plus the Spotify Pixel and Conversions API in Ads Manager. Ad Analytics documents IP address as the primary identifier, household-IP filtering with a device graph (AU, CA, MX, US), a 40-80% match rate that varies by campaign, linear attribution, lookback windows by IP type, and a modelled multiplier (total unique IPs divided by household IPs) that the advertiser can switch off. (c) Lift: Spotify Brand Lift surveys (up to three questions, free in Ads Manager). Conversion Lift compares exposed impressions with a control sample of impressions matched on time and geography, not randomised, with no confidence interval shown; it needs at least 250,000 impressions and four weeks. (d) Third-party integrations: 1x1 impression and click tags from approved vendors; IAS is the only viewability tracking available through the API; DoubleVerify IVT and viewability for video only; 'server-to-server integrations' on SAX, vendors not named. Ad Analytics is a listed product (measurement table), and its functions are counted here only because the vendor documents them as integrated for Spotify-sold media. [470, 176, 204, 199, 365, 630, 443, 632, 21] |
| Optimisation and outcome buying | live | C | (a) Outcome objectives in Ads Manager and the API: REACH, CLICKS, PAGE_VIEWS, APP_INSTALLS, LEADS, VIDEO_VIEWS and STREAMS, plus streaming conversion metrics for artist and podcast promotion. (b) Automated optimisation: bid strategies AUTOBID, MAX_BID and COST_PER_RESULT (a target cost per click, compatible only with CLICKS); Spotify says the App Install objective targets users 'most likely to ... download' the app; SAX buyers can use 'DSP outcome-based buying'. (c) Pacing PACING_EVEN or PACING_ASAP, and frequency caps by day, week and month. Reserved fixed-CPM products (Reserved Podcasts, Reserved Music) have lifetime budgets and impression delivery goals. (d) Reported results with method: Spotify reports install rates '4.3 times higher than non-optimized campaigns' and page-view rates 103% higher, with no design, comparator definition or period, so (d) is not met. [289, 443, 365, 22, 141] |
| Buyer workflow | live | C | (a) Self-serve buying in Spotify Ads Manager: auction with daily or lifetime budgets, 'no fixed cost', no minimum stated on the official pricing page (AUD-D-F23). (b) A public Spotify Ads API, v3 current, with developer documentation at developer.spotify.com. It covers campaign, ad set and ad management, drafts, assets, audiences, pixels and CAPI, reserved pricing and reporting. Most UI features are in the API; the exceptions are user management, billing and voiceover generation. (c) Reporting export: aggregate and insight reports plus 'Create a CSV Report Asynchronously'. Ad Analytics lift reports cannot be exported. Also: an open-source agent plugin, and an MCP server in closed beta. Direct insertion orders remain available. [568, 443, 404, 171, 204] |
| Inventory scale | live | A | Metric: monthly audience (users). Spotify reports 494 million Ad-Supported MAUs at 30 June 2026 (483 million at 31 March 2026, 476 million at 31 December 2025). The count is global, covers users who consumed content for more than zero milliseconds in the last 30 days, and is internal and not validated by a third party; the 20-F notes that multiple accounts per person and shared accounts both occur. No US Ad-Supported MAU figure is published. North America was 16% of total MAUs (751 million, all tiers) at 31 December 2025, a derived figure of about 120 million that includes Premium users and Canada, so it is not used. Downloads, impressions and audience are kept apart; no impression total is published. The figure is global-only, so under the dimension definition the 100-million threshold (anchor 5) is capped at 4. [64, 633, 21] |
| Channel breadth | live | A | Two of the five channels: streaming music and digital audio (music ads between songs), and podcasts (owned and exclusive, SPAN third-party podcasts, streamed in-app with streaming ad insertion and dynamically inserted off Spotify). No broadcast radio, satellite radio or in-game audio. The 20-F describes Ad-Supported revenue as coming from ads 'across the Group's music and podcast content'. Video podcasts and display are sold too but are not separate audio channels. [21, 64, 630] |
| Programmatic access | live | C | SAX is Spotify's own exchange (20-F: real-time biddable auction). The SAX page names six DSPs (The Trade Desk, Display & Video 360, Amazon DSP, Yahoo DSP, Adform, Hawk DSP), also lists Magnite, LiveRamp and ID5 as partners, and claims 'over 40 DSPs'. Deal types: the Amazon DSP article documents PMP for audio and video across music and podcasts, programmatic guaranteed for music audio or video, and open auction for video on music. Podcasts are PMP-only there. DV360's help page lists 'Spotify Ad Exchange' among its supported audio exchanges (AUD-D-S05). VAST 4.x and OpenRTB audio object support are not documented in the Spotify pages opened (SAX page, audio, video and display specs, Ads API guides). A search snippet citing 'VAST 2.0' could not be confirmed on an opened Spotify page. The anchor-4 condition therefore fails on VAST/OpenRTB, and the cell meets anchor 3 (one or more named DSPs and at least two deal types). AGENTIC PROTOCOL STATE (shared rule 12, no credit): AdCP v3.1.24 and AAMP show no Spotify connector, interoperability test, production use or transaction in the sources screened (AUD-I-F14, AUD-I-F07). The Spotify Ads API plugin (open source, v1.1.0 March 2026 to v1.8.0 August 2026) and the Ads API MCP server (closed beta) are agent tooling on a proprietary API, not an advertising-protocol state. [22, 158, 21, 634, 630, 404, 3] |
| US availability and coverage | live | A | National US availability: the streaming service is available nationally and in 184 countries and territories. The 20-F names Spotify USA Inc. as the 'USA operating company', one principal operational office is in New York (about 594,000 sq ft leased), and 3,466 employees are in the United States. The 20-F attributes Ad-Supported revenue to the country where a campaign is delivered and lists sales and marketing costs for 'our advertising sales operations'. It does not separate US advertising revenue or state where the ad sales staff sit, so reading the sales operation as US-based is an inference from the filing. US ad pages and a US sales contact form are live (vendor). International breadth is recorded, not scored. [21, 630] |
| Counting assurance | live | A | IAB Tech Lab's podcast compliance record (read 29 September 2026) lists 34 companies. It has no listing named Spotify, Spotify for Creators or Spotify Advertising. The Spotify-owned listing is Megaphone, a separate row: guidelines v2.2, Download, Ad Delivery and Listener, last certified 12 November 2025. Its report was issued to Spotify USA Inc. and dated 30 September 2025, and it marks Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable'. The MRC's digital and multimedia accreditation lists contain no Spotify or Megaphone service. Spotify sells mainly in-app impressions: music ad impressions, and podcast 'streamed impressions', which Megaphone says count only when the ad 'is played in full' on the Spotify player. Neither metric falls within any issuing body's certified scope. The 20-F documents the Megaphone integration for SPAN ('podcasts from enterprise publishers via Megaphone'), so off-Spotify podcast ad delivery runs through a certified system (owned; ownership adds or removes no credit). That scope does not cover the impression metric the product mainly sells on, which meets anchor 2. An alternative reading, that the certification covers part of one scored channel (podcast delivery off Spotify), would support 4; that reading is not used, because the certified metrics are not the ones the product sells on. [15, 453, 116, 570, 21] |
| Transparency and inventory quality | live | A | (b) Supply-path disclosure: spotify.com/sellers.json (observed 29 September 2026) lists 634 sellers, all PUBLISHER, all with a domain and none confidential, including represented sellers Westwood One, Audioboom and Libsyn. spotify.com/ads.txt authorises Spotify's own system plus Google, Magnite, Index Exchange and OpenX. The 20-F states which podcast supply is owned and which is represented: owned and exclusive, enterprise publishers via Megaphone, and creators via Spotify for Creators. (c) Invalid-traffic filtering: DoubleVerify IVT measurement is documented for video campaigns in Ads Manager only. No IVT filtering method or certification for audio impressions was found. (a) Show-level delivery reporting to buyers: Ad Analytics describes attribution questions per podcast ('Of the ten podcasts you advertised on...'), but show-level delivery reporting is not documented in operational detail. (d) Inventory-quality attributes, such as ad load or listen-through, are not published. One component documented beyond the sellers.json and ads.txt entries. [143, 635, 21, 632, 176] |
| Brand safety and suitability | live | D | (a) Episode-level classification: Spotify says Contextual Topics and Sensitive Topics 'transcribe and analyze podcast episodes' (2023 article), and the Ads API v3 exposes 'sensitive topic targets' and 'podcast episode topics' (2026 documentation). (c) Suitability framework: four sensitive-topic levels (Standard, Partial, Limited, Restricted) plus Custom per category, 'reflecting GARM's Brand Safety Floor + Suitability Framework' (October 2023). GARM has since been discontinued (AUD-G-F04). (d) Third-party verification: Barometer episode-level pre-bid data for SAX podcast inventory, live on The Trade Desk from 17 June 2026 (Barometer release). A 2023 IAS sample classification was done at Spotify's invitation. Comscore/Proximic activation was announced 22 July 2026 (AUD-G-S01). (b) Show-level allow or block lists: not documented in the pages opened; Spotify's Ads Help Center brand-safety pages did not render for stream G. (a) and (d) are documented from vendor sources only, which meets anchor 4. The (d) evidence is a vendor press release (grade D), which caps the cell at 3. [287, 268, 443, 276, 300, 283] |

Performance evidence: Spotify reaches 27% incremental reach on top of TV and 22% on top of social/digital; ads between songs drive 2.6x stronger awareness than media benchmarks; combining three ad formats drives an '89% incremental sales lift'. (vendor assertion, sponsor Spotify (footnoted to Nielsen Mixer Study US 2023-2024; Spotify Consumer Decision Journey 2023; NCSolutions US 2020-2023)) [636]; SAX advertiser count rose 142% from April to October 2025; Web Traffic campaigns had page-view rates 103% higher than brand-awareness campaigns; App Install objective campaigns had install rates 4.3 times non-optimised campaigns; Yahoo DSP data (July-September 2025) showed conversion rates up nearly 70% and cost per action down almost 90%. (vendor assertion, sponsor Spotify (Yahoo data as cited by Spotify)) [141]; Spotify Conversion Lift measures 'incremental impact' by comparing exposed impressions with a control sample selected by time and geography (country, or US state). (vendor assertion, sponsor Spotify) [204, 199]; Advertising on Spotify is '29% more engaging, 20% more memorable' with 19% higher brand breakthrough than all other US media (Sonic Science, 2021), and Spotify ads drive 27% more visual attention than Neuro-Insight's all-media benchmark. (commissioned measurement, sponsor Spotify ('paid and commissioned' for the 2021 study; funding of the 2023 US/UK wave with WPP not stated)) [240, 239]; Spotify audio ads drove 14% more attentive seconds than the platform average in dentsu's 2021 Attention Economy work with Amplified Intelligence. (vendor assertion, sponsor Reported by Spotify; dentsu programme partner; funding not stated) [517]; Less than 1% of Spotify Originals & Exclusives and SPAN content in an 800,000-episode sample fell below the GARM Floor, per an IAS classification Spotify invited. (commissioned measurement, sponsor Spotify (invited IAS; payment terms not stated)) [300]

iHeartMedia is Well documented, on the cohort's highest Reach, with 868 owned and operated US stations and local sales in about 160 markets [66]. Workflow holds back its Depth: on 29 September 2026 its AdBuilder self-serve domain returned an HTTP 404 error and redirected to a lead form. Its certificate had lapsed two days earlier and 2026 third-party guides describe AdBuilder as live. A recheck on 30 September found the same 404 error and redirect [455, 456]. Its brand-safety cell is n/e: iHeartMedia launched episode-level brand safety powered by Sounder in February 2023, but those sources are older than 24 months, and Triton announced its purchase of Sounder in March 2024 [278, 279].

Amazon's seller row is Well documented, and the band is provisional. This review found no Amazon-published US audience, impression or download figure for its ad-supported audio in the sources screened by the cutoff, so its inventory scale is n/e [457, 194]. Its Art19 ad-technology row reaches the top counting-assurance anchor, since IAB Tech Lab lists ART19 for all four counting metrics [15]. The seller row inherits none of that.

Audiomob and Odeeo are both Partly documented, and both bands are provisional, and neither has a counting-assurance score. Audiomob's software development kit is listed as compliant with IAB Tech Lab's Open Measurement standard, and the rules do not treat that as counting assurance [15]. No issuing-body record covers Odeeo's counting [345, 343, 116]. Both state their scale only as global figures, which the rules cap.



## 13. What the evidence says about the starting claims


*This paper set out to test the author's audio playbook and his standards page, and allowed either to fail. This chapter gives each registered hypothesis and question its verdict, the evidence behind it and what would change it.*

> **In short.**
> In the two buyer surveys found with a stated base and period, one Australian and one of unclear geography, measurement is the leading class of constraint and the narrative item ranks third and fourth among the items, so the playbook's claim that the buyer narrative is the bottleneck is not consistent with them. H2 is supported: the podcast guidelines define four counting units, and certified scope covers counting only. H3 is supported, narrowly: IP, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 products that document one, and in 11 of 19 with undocumented products added. This review found no independent causal test of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes, in the sources screened. Every public attention, intrusiveness and in-game retention claim this review coded is insufficient evidence, which is not refutation. H5's ownership part is contradicted on its registered measure, a count of named integrations; that measure says nothing about spend, so whether most buying runs through owned rails is unresolved, as are access and pricing. H6 is supported under its rule, with one documented agentic transaction found, whose sources name no agentic advertising protocol.

### What was tested

The author's audio playbook is a go-to-market plan for audio sellers. It says the bottleneck in audio is the buyer narrative rather than reach, and that audio sells on attention, intent signals, non-intrusiveness and consent-first. It contains no market data. His standards page says a download is not a listen, and that most podcast attribution is modelled. The author's own writing is not independent evidence, so each claim was followed to the original records.

The paper registered 6 items in its hypotheses file on 28 September 2026, before any research agent ran. Q1 and Q4 are research questions with no direction, answered with a coding rule; they cannot be disconfirmed. The other four are hypotheses, each with written rules for supported, contradicted and unresolved. The coding was one pass by the author's AI-assisted research process, checked by separate AI agents instructed to refute it, with no second coder. Chapter 14 describes the method.

### Q1: what limits audio spend

Q1 codes every buyer-reported constraint in a survey with a stated base and period into six classes: reach, measurement, workflow, creative, price and narrative. A constraint that fits none is left unclassified. Sources are never pooled. The playbook's claim counts as consistent with a source only where narrative is that source's most frequent class.

![In both buyer surveys that could be coded, measurement is the leading constraint; narrative ranks third and fourth.](figures/fig-q1-constraints.svg)

*Figure fig-q1-constraints. **In both buyer surveys that could be coded, measurement is the leading constraint; narrative ranks third and fourth.** Constraints reported by buyers, coded to the six classes registered for Q1. Each bar is the largest share reported for any constraint in that class in that survey. The Amazon Ads and EMARKETER question, as a seller’s blog reports it, was: “What challenges prevent greater investment in digital audio at your organization?” Sources are never pooled. Units: % of respondents. Scope: IAB Australia buy-side survey (n = 128, Australia) and the Amazon Ads and EMARKETER survey of 100 marketers, whose geography EMARKETER describes two ways (worldwide in its methodology note, US on the report page). Sources [461], [463]. Caveat: Multi-select questions, so shares do not sum. Budget (39% in the Amazon Ads and EMARKETER survey) fits none of the six classes and is left out. That survey was run with an audio seller; its question wording is known only from a seller’s blog; the IAB Australia survey comes from a trade body that represents sellers. Data: data/figure-data.json#q1*

Two surveys qualified. The first was run by EMARKETER with Amazon Ads, an audio seller, among 100 marketers in November 2025. EMARKETER describes the sample as worldwide in its methodology note and as US marketers on the report page, so this paper treats its geography as unclear (review round 2, R2-01) [458, 459]. The question, as Cumulus’s Westwood One blog quotes it, was “What challenges prevent greater investment in digital audio at your organization?” EMARKETER’s public articles do not print it, so the wording is known second-hand, from a seller (review round 3, R3-05) [460]. Difficulty measuring return on investment was cited by 55%, budget constraints by 39% and a perception that audio is less effective than other channels by 36% [461, 462]. Budget fits none of the six classes and stays unclassified. The perception item is coded narrative. Limited scale or reach was cited by 17%; the full item list is known only from Radio Ink's secondary summary [461].

The second is IAB Australia's survey of 128 buy-side respondents, 95% of them from agencies, fielded in November and December 2025. Asked for the three biggest issues stopping audio and podcast advertising from taking a larger share, 40% named evidence of effectiveness, 33% measurement and tracking, 24% cost and 19% understanding of audio advertising [463]. Evidence of effectiveness is coded measurement, because it concerns proving outcomes. Understanding is coded narrative. No item in that survey was coded reach.

Measurement leads both sources. That holds whether a class is scored by its largest item or by the sum of its items. The narrative item ranks third among the items in the first survey and fourth in the second. The playbook's claim that the buyer narrative is the bottleneck is not consistent with these two sources. Its other half, that reach is not the bottleneck, fits them: reach was a minor item in one and absent in the other.

The base is thin. There are two surveys, one of unclear geography run with a seller, the other Australian and run by a trade body whose members include audio sellers. Both use multi-select questions, so shares do not sum. Buyers who never consider audio may be missing from both samples, and such buyers could hold exactly the narrative constraint the playbook describes. That is an inference. Other US buy-side surveys screened yielded no codable audio constraint inside the window [464, 465]. Two surveys describe their own respondents; they cannot establish the leading constraint for US audio buyers as a whole. A US survey with a stated base, question wording and a sample that includes non-buyers of audio would change this answer.

### H2: counting versus listening

H2 is supported. The IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines v2.2, final since 2 May 2024, define four counting units: download, listener, ad delivered and client-confirmed ad play. None measures listening time, attention or outcomes [10]. Client-confirmed ad play can carry quartile markers, but it needs a beacon from the listening app, and the guideline itself says aggregator apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify typically send no playback data.

IAB Tech Lab's public compliance record on 28 September 2026 listed 34 companies, all certified against v2.2: 33 for download, 33 for listener, 17 for ad delivery and 4 for client-confirmed ad play [15]. The record states certified scope as a guideline version and a list of counting metrics. It names no product, environment or geography [15, 107]. Version 2.3 went to public comment on 21 July 2026 and was released as final on 29 September 2026. It keeps the same four metrics, so H2 holds on the final text [16, 19].

The standards page's line that a download is not a listen held. A final guideline defining a certified listening or outcome metric would change the verdict. Chapter 4 sets out the counting chain.

### H3: attribution methods

H3 is supported, narrowly. Review round 3 found the first sample incomplete, and the paper rebuilt it under the registered rule: 23 products from the measurement table and the scored rows whose own documentation describes an attribution function, each counted once. IP, household or pixel matching is the documented primary method in 11 of the 12 products that document one (91.7%), and in 11 of 19 with the undocumented products added (57.9%). Four products, SiriusXM Media, iHeartMedia, Beasley and Acast, list several methods with no default and are reported apart; adding them gives 11 of 23 (47.8%), a sensitivity the rule does not use [186, 187, 188, 189]. Review round 2 recoded Triton Digital as IP matching done by the advertiser's attribution partner, because its document never says household (R2-22) [175]. Treating the two oldest supporting pages, Audacy’s and DAX US’s, as undocumented and recoding Claritas as an identity graph would together give 9 of 10 and 9 of 19 (47.4%), and the verdict would then be unresolved. This is a count of products. It says nothing about campaigns, spend or accuracy. Its codes say how an exposure is linked to a conversion, not whether the estimate is causal (chapter 6), so the result is a fragile basis for any general statement about audio attribution.

IP matching reaches households. Spotify says podcasting has no device- or browser-level identifiers, and Podscribe says only about 50-60% of impressions fall on residential IPs [199, 177]. No product in the sample documents confidence intervals or any other uncertainty measure for attribution results in the pages opened.

The standards page says most podcast attribution is modelled. Spotify and Podscribe document modelling of unmatched impressions, which is consistent with the claim. No source opened publishes the share of reported conversions that is modelled, so "most" is not established.

The second part of H3 counts independent causal tests. This review found no independent causal test of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes with published design and results, in the sources screened by the cutoff, which did not include a systematic academic database search [220, 221, 222]. It found three academic randomised field experiments of non-commercial radio messages. H3 would be contradicted if new documentation, or a recoding, brought both shares to half or below; if only one fell that far, H3 would be unresolved.

### Q4: attention, intrusiveness and retention claims

Q4 codes each public claim by the evidence behind it. Independent support needs a study whose design fits the claim, with published method and results and a funder with no financial interest in the answer. For in-game retention, the rule fixed before any study was read is non-inferiority on day-7 retention: the lower 95% confidence bound of the difference between exposed and unexposed players must exceed minus 1.0 percentage point.

Every public claim this review coded is insufficient evidence. That covers 19 audio attention, memory and intrusiveness claims [233, 239, 245, 232], 13 in-game retention claims and 6 in-game attention claims. The 19 is a count of coded rows; at least four more claims of the same kind were seen on pages already screened, and each would code the same way on the evidence shown. The retention claims state no assignment method, control condition, retention window, sample size or confidence interval, so non-inferiority cannot be assessed [308, 348]. None of the in-game attention evidence meets the attention paper's definitions; it is listen-through rate, self-reported recall or assertion.

Insufficient is not refuted. The strongest design found is Pandora's randomised ad-load experiment on almost 35 million listeners from June 2014 to April 2016, run by Pandora. One extra ad per hour cut mean listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227% (95% interval). It has no other-format comparator, so it neither supports nor contradicts a claim that audio ads are less intrusive than other formats [254]. The insufficient class is wide: it holds that experiment beside modelled scores and bare assertions. The playbook's claims that audio sells on attention and non-intrusiveness are unresolved from public sources. Chapter 7 codes each claim.

### H5: rails and ownership

H5 is assessed in three parts. DSPs, or demand-side platforms, are the software buyers use to bid. The ownership part is contradicted on the registered pooled count. The three owners' rails are 15 of 43 named audio supply integrations in five DSPs' documentation (35%). Leaving out The Trade Desk's directory, which mixes publishers and rails, gives 9 of 17 (53%), a sensitivity test only [132, 134, 135]. Review round 2 confirmed that the registered pooled count governs (R2-13). These are counts of named integrations. They say nothing about spend, so confidence is low. The verdict applies to that measure only; whether most audio buying runs through owner-controlled infrastructure is unresolved without spend or transaction data (R4-04).

Access is unresolved. No public term found gives an owner's inventory priority, and Megaphone's private marketplace deals deliver only in shows enabled for Spotify Audience Network [11, 141]. Pricing is unresolved: this review found no published fee or take rate for AdsWizz, Triton Digital, the Spotify Ad Exchange or Megaphone in the sources screened; Simplecast publishes a 70/30 revenue split for its own hosting customers, which cannot show an owner advantage [165, 140]. Ownership alone never settles price or access. Published rail fees, or terms that restrict rivals or favour the owner's inventory, would settle those parts. Chapter 5 gives the counts by DSP.

### H6: agentic readiness

H6 tests the author's July 2026 essay, which called audio "protocol-ready, deal-flow pending" [382]. It is supported under the registered rule. AdCP v3.1.24, the Ad Context Protocol release of 23 September 2026, represents audio in its published schema [383, 384]. In the sources screened, only one row, iHeartMedia, has a documented transaction: the Butler/Till campaign announced as completed on 20 August 2026, in which paired agents bought just under $10,000 of iHeart streaming audio and podcast inventory. Its sources name only an MCP server and no agentic advertising protocol [397, 398].

The public record does not link that transaction to AdCP or AAMP; AdCP itself runs over MCP, so its use is neither shown nor excluded. The essay's statement that no public agentic audio campaign existed was accurate at its date and was overtaken on 20 August 2026. "Pending" now rests on the rule's threshold of three rows. Three or more rows with documented production use or a transaction would contradict H6.

### Where the author's claims held and where they did not

Two of the author's lines held. A download is not a listen, on the guideline text and the certification record. Audio is protocol-ready with deal flow pending, under the registered threshold, though the essay's claim that no campaign existed did not survive the cutoff. One line is consistent with the record without being established: that most podcast attribution is modelled.

One line was not consistent with the evidence available. In both qualifying surveys buyers put measurement first, ahead of anything coded narrative. The playbook's diagnosis does not match what buyers in these samples report.

The attention and non-intrusiveness claims are unresolved. The playbook's intent-signal and consent-first claims were not registered as tests and get no verdict here. Chapter 11 bears on the second: IP and household matching handles data that California law treats as personal information, an inference from the statute and regulations [225, 226].

### What would change the thesis

Three kinds of evidence would move these verdicts.

The first is independent listen-level measurement at scale. Today, client-confirmed ad play is certified for 4 of the 34 companies in IAB Tech Lab's record, and the large aggregator apps typically send no playback data [15, 10]. The Media Rating Council's Digital Audio Measurement Standards v1.0 of January 2018 define a client-side audible ad impression, at least two continuous seconds at non-zero volume [8]. Playback data at scale, measured by a party without a stake, would give H2 a listening metric to test and give Q4's attention claims an observed input.

The second is accredited podcast audience measurement. In the Media Rating Council's lists read on 28 September 2026, this review found no accredited or in-process podcast or streaming-audio measurement service. The one audio-related entry was Adelaide's attention metric, pre-audit reviewed in May 2026 with the audit not begun [115, 117]. The industry task force AMP, the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting, defines a podcast play as at least 30 consecutive seconds, according to a summary by Oxford Road, which convened it. AMP claims no accreditation [2].

The third is published incrementality studies with design and results. Podscribe sells randomised holdouts as a priced option, and the AMP summary recommends holding out 5-10% of each platform's audience [1, 2]. What this review did not find, in the sources screened, is a published study with design, results and an independent funder. One would move H3's count of independent causal tests above zero. If measurement stopped being the constraint buyers cite first, Q1 would need a fresh survey to show what takes its place.



## 14. Method, limits and corrections


*How the paper was built, what the checks caught and what could not be reached. The records behind each step are published so a reader can test any sentence against its source.*

> **In short.**
> AI research agents worked from one brief in ten topic workstreams, a vendor-universe sweep, eight capability sweeps and eight vendor profiles, and opened 993 sources. Separate AI verifiers, told to refute the work, checked 640 of the 641 ledger claims. Under the starting claims registered on 28 September 2026, the author's buyer-narrative claim is not consistent with the two coded buyer surveys. The ownership part of H5 is contradicted on the registered pooled count. On 29 September, before any cell was scored, the counting-assurance anchor was clarified to follow IAB Tech Lab's 12-month certification term; 11 of the 34 companies on its podcast record were last certified more than 12 months before 28 September 2026. One scoring pass and one calibration pass produced the scores. A blind AI second pass re-scored the 17 rows nearest a band line and matched 72% of their cells exactly. An adjudication of the 29 largest disagreements corrected 10 first-pass cells against their sources, and three bands remain sensitive to the scorer. The author ran five AI model review rounds, the first on the briefs, and a freeze recheck on 30 September 2026; with the calibration they produced the 74 entries in the corrections ledger. The paper has had no peer review or external audit.

### What the paper asked, and how the work was split

The paper tests two of the author's public positions and lets either fail. His audio playbook says the bottleneck in audio is the buyer narrative. His standards page says a download is not a listen and that most podcast attribution is modelled. The brief turned these and related questions into 6 registered items.

The work ran in 20 research files: ten topic workstreams, the vendor-universe sweep, eight capability sweeps and the Podscribe profile, plus 7 deep profiles. Topic streams covered market size (A), sellers and restructurings (B), measurement and certification (C), programmatic rails and pricing (D), attribution and causal evidence (E), attention (F), brand safety (G), in-game audio (H), AI and agentic buying (I), and rules and privacy (K). Stream U built the product register. Capability sweeps M1 to M8 gathered the evidence for scoring, grouped by company or seller type. Deep profiles covered Spotify, SiriusXM Media, iHeartMedia, Amazon audio, Acast, Audiomob and Odeeo. A separate profile described Podscribe, a measurement vendor, without scoring it.

### Starting claims registered before extraction

Each item was written into `data/hypotheses.json` on 28 September 2026, before any research agent ran, with its population, comparator, outcome and the rules for supported, contradicted and unresolved. Q1 and Q4 are questions, answered under a coding rule and never disconfirmed. Absence of accessible evidence yields unresolved unless a hypothesis is about public documentation itself, as H6 is. Q4 fixed its retention test, including an acceptable loss of 1.0 percentage point in day-7 retention, before any study was read.

In the two buyer surveys found with a stated base and period, measurement is the leading class of constraint and narrative ranks third and fourth. The playbook's claim that the buyer narrative is the bottleneck is not consistent with these two sources [461, 463]. The sample is thin. The first survey was run with Amazon Ads, an audio seller, and EMARKETER describes its sample as worldwide in the methodology note and as US marketers on the report page [459, 458]. For H5, the three owners' rails are 15 of 43 named audio supply integrations in five demand-side platforms' documentation (35%), which meets the contradicted condition for the ownership part. Leaving out The Trade Desk's directory gives 9 of 17 (53%), a sensitivity test only. Chapter 13 gives every verdict.

### How the evidence was gathered and checked

Each stream wrote a structured file of sources and findings, each finding with its supporting passage. Agents had to open every source they cite. Each file then went to a separate AI verifier that had not seen the research and was instructed to refute it. It opened the cited sources, checked denominator, unit, date, entity and wording, and gave a verdict per finding or capability cell. The 27 verifier files hold 1114 verdicts: 678 supported as stated, 422 qualified, 14 contradicted and 0 unresolved. In the ledger, verifiers checked 640 of 641 claims; the other is derived by the author from checked claims and recomputed by the build. The ledger records 426 claims as supported as stated, 205 as qualified and 10 as contradicted. The text uses a qualified claim only in its qualified reading and never states a contradicted claim as fact.

A verified claim means a second agent opened the source and read the passage. Two agents reading one page are not two independent measurements, and a model checking another model is not an external audit. A shared web-search quota ran out during the run, so several verifiers could not run web searches and reached sources by direct address, and their checks of absence claims stayed bounded to the research streams' logged searches. So this review found no independent causal test of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes with published design and results, in the sources screened; its verifier could not rerun the search, and the screen included no systematic academic database search [220, 221, 222].

![Every stage was built to remove things, and the counts are computed, not typed.](figures/fig-pipeline.svg)

*Figure fig-pipeline. **Every stage was built to remove things, and the counts are computed, not typed.** The five stages of this project with the actual outputs of each. Each research file went to a separate verifier told to refute it; a claim no verifier checked would be labelled unresolved rather than assumed. Corrections include score changes from the calibration pass and dispositions from the external AI spot-check. Units: counts. Scope: this research project, as of the cutoff. Caveat: Counts describe process volume, not evidence quality; a claim that survived verification is supported by its source, not proven true. Data: data/stats.json*

### Evidence classes, grades and the source hierarchy

Every finding carries one evidence class: direct record (a filing, registry or official document), independent measurement, commissioned measurement, vendor assertion, synthesis, inference, forecast or illustrative scenario. Provenance, funding, study design and claim status (actual, year to date or forecast) are recorded apart from the class. Independence is established claim by claim; where funding is unknown, independence is unknown.

The kind of claim decides which source settles it. Filings and registries settle ownership and transactions, with each form type checked on EDGAR, the SEC's filing system. The issuing body settles what a standard says and which version is final, and the certifier's own record settles certification within its stated scope. Vendor documentation can show that a feature is documented, but cannot show superior performance. Effectiveness needs a study whose design fits the claim. Of the 993 sources, 68 are filings, 77 are regulator or standards-body documents, 12 are studies and 474 are vendor pages. The author's own published work appears only as the claim under test [382].

Each scored cell also carries an evidence grade: A for a filing or standards-body record, B for independent documentation, C for vendor technical documentation, D for vendor marketing or a case study, E for none. Grade C caps a cell at 4 and grade D at 3.

### The product register and the scoring rules

On 28 September 2026, before any cell was scored, the paper froze the product register, the cohorts with their applicability masks, and the anchors for each dimension. A scored unit is a named product classified by what the buyer purchases. The register holds 83 products: 34 scored, 47 listed and 2 historical. Cohort A, audio inventory sellers, has 24 rows on all 12 dimensions. Cohort B, audio ad technology, has 10 on every dimension except creative. A 0 needs a source that documents absence or failure; missing evidence is n/e. Only verified or qualified cells count. Of 408 cells, 350 carry a score, 48 are n/e and 10 are n/a, so 86% of all cells carry a score. The quotient treats 1 unverified scored cells as n/e.

Spotify Ad Exchange is recorded, as an inference, as a buying route into Spotify-owned inventory and shows enabled for the Spotify Audience Network, an alias of the Spotify Advertising row [22, 11]. AdsWizz and Triton Digital each appear as two cohort B rows, a publisher platform and a marketplace. These are analytical splits of one company's services, inferred from their documentation, and the sources show no separate contract for each [24, 26, 153]. The splits may count some capability twice within cohort B. In cohort A, the sellers.json file of DAX, Global's digital audio business, lists "Odeeo US" as a DAX US intermediary, so the separate Odeeo row may count US inventory that DAX US also represents, an inference [100].

The anchor for counting assurance, dimension 10, had a 24-month fallback for certifications with no stated validity period. IAB Tech Lab's Compliance Guide states one: recertify within 12 months or the status changes to expired [20]. Its public list has no status column, and 11 of its 34 podcast listings were last certified more than 12 months before 28 September 2026 [15]. On 29 September, before any cell was scored, the anchor was clarified: a listing past the term with no status shown is read at anchor 3, a certification on the record that is not current, and earns 0 only if the record shows it expired or suspended.

### How the Listen Quotient is computed

The Listen Quotient (LQ) is computed within each cohort. A row's counted numeric cells are averaged in three groups, Depth (dimensions 1 to 5), Reach (6 to 9) and Standing (10 to 12), skipping n/e and n/a. Raw = 0.45 × Depth + 0.25 × Reach + 0.30 × Standing, renormalised over the groups present. The field mean F is the mean Raw of the cohort's admitted rows, thin rows included. This differs from the Contextual and Native Quotients in the author's earlier papers, which pooled group scores. Each row is shrunk toward F: Shrunk = (k × Raw + K × F) / (k + K), where k is the row's counted cells and K, the prior strength, is 4. LQ = 100 × Shrunk / 5.

Bands come from the unrounded offset 20 × (Shrunk − F), using the Contextual Quotient's thresholds: Most documented at +12 or more, Well documented at +1 or more, Partly documented at −8 or more, Least documented below. Review round 4 renamed the bands, formerly Front rank, Strong, Mid and Narrow, so that the names describe documented capability; the thresholds did not change. A banded row needs at least 6 counted cells and a cell in every applicable group. K is an author-defined heuristic, not a statistical estimator, so the build reruns the index at K = 0, 2 and 8, under equal-thirds, Depth-led, Reach-led and Standing-led weights, with each cell deleted in turn, and with n/e cells filled at 1 and at 4. Chapter 12 reports the results. LQ summarises publicly documented capability. It does not measure product performance or business quality.

### One scoring pass, calibration and a blind second pass

Scoring ran once. AI scoring agents scored each sweep's cells against the anchors after the verifier records were read. A calibration pass then compared every cell of each dimension within each cohort, so that the same evidence earns the same score. Its changes are listed under SC-01 in the corrections ledger, and SC-02 turned one 0 into n/e because it rested on inference. In all, 18 ledger entries change scores. After review round 4, separate AI scorers re-scored blind the 17 rows nearest a band line, from the rules, the sources and the verified claims, without the first scores. Exact agreement was 72% of 200 cells, agreement within one point 96% of the 168 cells both passes scored, and the quadratic-weighted kappa 0.86. On the second pass's scores, 4 of the 17 rows would change band (chapter 12). The second pass replaced no score by itself. Review round 5 adjudicated the 29 largest disagreements against the sources and corrected 10 first-pass cells, each for a factual, anchor-application or convention error; judgement calls kept the first pass (AJ-01 to AJ-10; chapter 12). Rows whose band still differs under the second pass are marked scorer-sensitive. No human scored any cell, and both passes are AI scorers reading the same rules, so this tests reproducibility, not independent judgement. That remains the largest gap in this method.

### Review rounds and what they changed

All five review rounds were AI model reviews run by the author. Round 1, on 28 September 2026, read the research briefs before any research agent ran. Each factual point it raised was checked against its primary source before a brief changed; the dispositions are in `research/_briefs/ROUND-1-CHANGES.md`. For this paper it corrected the ad-delivered counting rules and moved DAX US into cohort A.

Round 2, on 29 September 2026, spot-checked the evidence and the register. Each finding that made a factual claim was checked by a separate checker against its primary source before anything changed, and the two that turned on the registered rule and the register were re-read against those; dispositions are tagged R2 in the corrections ledger. Triton's integrations page, for example, names 41 partners, not all of them demand-side platforms, where the draft had said 39 [152]. Other entries qualified the EMARKETER survey's geography, cut Spotify Advertising's US coverage score from 5 to 4 because Spotify's 20-F documents no US advertising sales operation [21], and coded Triton's attribution as IP-address matching by the advertiser's partner, without household matching [175].

Round 3, also on 29 September 2026, reviewed the full draft and its package; its findings are tagged R3. It found the H3 sample incomplete: several scored sellers whose own pages describe attribution were missing. The sample was rebuilt under the registered rule to 23 products and recoded, with a separate verifier opening the pages, and H3 stayed supported, narrowly (chapter 6). It set two cells to n/e: Audioboom's scale figure mixes downloads with video views, and Audiomob's Open Measurement tags are not documented as verifying content. No band moved. It led the paper to publish the scoring conventions C1 to C16 in data/scoring-rules.json and to ship the shared research rules with the package, to show classes with no coded constraint as gaps rather than 0%, to reconcile chapter 8 with the sources behind two scores, to correct the ELVIS Act signing date in the rules table, and to bound the cover summary. One finding was rejected: the Amazon Ads and EMARKETER question wording is quoted in a seller's blog already in the record, so that survey still qualifies under Q1 [460].

Round 4, on 30 September 2026, reviewed the paper before publication; its findings are tagged R4. It recalculated all 34 quotient scores, found them consistent with the formula, and argued that the conclusions read more definitively than the evidence allows. Each point was checked against the paper's own data before anything changed. The bands were renamed to say what they measure, and every band sensitive to missing evidence is now marked provisional. The abstract now opens with what a buyer can do. The headline lines carry their bounds: the surveys are one Australian and one of unclear geography, the H5 verdict applies to a count of named integrations, and the H3 codes say how a match is made, not whether an estimate is causal. Grade caps and scale equivalences are named as assumptions. Two suggestions were taken only in part: capability and evidence confidence are not scored separately, and H3 was not recoded into collection method, matching unit, extrapolation and causal design, because neither was registered. Its suggestion of a blind second scoring pass was run, as described above.

Round 5, also on 30 September 2026, reviewed the published paper; its findings are tagged R5. It found that data/second-pass.json, cited in the text, was missing from the published data, and asked for a flag on bands the second scorer moves and an adjudication of the material disagreements. The file and a CSV are now published, scorer-sensitive bands are marked † beside the ± for missing evidence, and the adjudication corrected 10 cells (chapter 12). The interests note now says no vendor funded, reviewed or saw the paper before publication.

**Corrections ledger**

| ID | Original claim or score | Challenge | Evidence checked | Verdict | Change made | Reason | Affected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ-01 | cumulus/creative: 2 (counted as 2) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (3). | Family (b) is documented: AUD-B-S07 describes host-read podcast endorsements, and the Toledo Influencer Program page (AUD-V-M4-S03) names ten personalities and 'Custom Campaigns'. The verifier-added Toledo home page (AUD-V-M4-S02) also sells 'Bring Ads to Life with Quu!', ads shown on car dashboards alongside radio. That is the companion-format family (d), at the same station-site scope the first pass accepted for (b). Two families meet anchor 3 at the grade D cap of 3; C2 allows the higher reading because it rests on the verifier's own added source. [38, 637, 638] | contradicted | cumulus/creative set to 3 (grade D); error in the first pass: anchor_application. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-02 | cumulus/transparency: 1 (counted as 1) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (2). | Component (b) expressly includes 'owned versus represented supply stated'. The 10-K (AUD-B-S07) and Q2 2026 10-Q (AUD-B-S10) state 393/384 owned-and-operated stations against more than 7,800 Westwood One affiliates whose remitted time Cumulus sells as network inventory. So the record goes beyond the ads.txt and sellers.json entries (AUD-M4-S10, AUD-M4-S12; re-checked). C13's 'entry alone' does not apply, and anchor 2 is met on a grade A filing, the same reading the first pass gave Spotify's 20-F. No reporting, IVT method or quality attribute is documented, so it goes no higher. [639, 509, 143, 38, 81] | contradicted | cumulus/transparency set to 2 (grade A); error in the first pass: anchor_application. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-03 | libsyn-ads/inventory_scale: 3 (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (3). | Both passes reach 3 D, but the first rests on the undated '35M listeners' line on AUD-M7-S23, whose page carries no period, and it stayed unverified, so it counted as n/e. C8 and the dimension definition call for a named metric and period. The verified claim AUD-M7-F10 identifies the 11 March 2026 release (AUD-M7-S26) as the only dated figure: 'Ad impressions grew 46% year over year, reaching 4.5 billion in 2025'. That is about 375M a month, anchor 4, capped at 3 as press-release grade D. S26 presents it as Libsyn's ad-business result and lists programmatic Automatic Podcast Ads among Libsyn Ads' solutions, so it does not support the first pass's move of the figure to the hosting row (C8 counts represented supply at the representing seller). [640, 641, 642] | contradicted | libsyn-ads/inventory_scale set to 3 (grade D); error in the first pass: convention. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-04 | podcastone/targeting: n/e (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (1). | The 10-K (AUD-B-S19) documents sales of 'embedded host read ads, dynamic ads (host read and otherwise), segment sponsorships', 'customized opportunities within our programs' and buys made 'when aligning with a PodcastOne podcast'. That is show-level selection, and targeting anchor 1 names it explicitly ('show- or station-level selection only'); C5 keeps it out of family (a). The record therefore gives a basis to score, so n/e was wrong. The 'hyper-targeting' and 'people-based marketing' language names no segment, context or geography function, and the advertise page (AUD-M7-S40) adds nothing, so the score does not rise above 1. [74, 643, 644, 74] | contradicted | podcastone/targeting set to 1 (grade A); error in the first pass: anchor_application. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-05 | townsquare/counting_assurance: n/e (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (0). | The first pass said which Townsquare markets are diary-rated is only an inference. But the MRC's Q2 2026 record (AUD-C-S20) names Killeen-Temple, Odessa-Midland, Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester and Trenton, four of the markets in Townsquare's 10-K station table (AUD-B-S20), among Nielsen Audio Diary Service reports. It records the whole Diary service as 'Hiatus, Unaccredited' effective 6/23/26. The 10-K documents Townsquare's agreements with Nielsen (about USD 14.3 million through June 2028) as the principal ratings service, and none of its markets is among the 24 accredited PPM markets in AUD-C-S19. C9 scores 0 when the issuing body's record shows a hiatus for the counting system the row uses, and the Diary hiatus is named in C9 itself. [70, 6, 118, 15, 70] | contradicted | townsquare/counting_assurance set to 0 (grade A); error in the first pass: factual. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-06 | spotify/transparency: 2 (counted as 2) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (4). | S16 (the Megaphone certification report issued to Spotify USA Inc.) marks IP-threat, domain-threat, user-agent, 2-byte-range and automatic-download filtering Supported. That is an independent certification of IVT filtering for the Megaphone delivery that S01 places inside SPAN ('podcasts from enterprise publishers via Megaphone'). S13 lists a 29-value podcast_episode_topic_ids content-category taxonomy plus sensitive_topic_exclusions. These sources contradict the first pass's statements that IVT filtering is documented only for video (S28) and that no quality attributes are documented. Three components are documented: (b) supply path (S31 634-entry sellers.json, S38 ads.txt, and S01's owned versus Megaphone and creator supply), (c) partially, and (d) from vendor documentation. That meets anchor 4, graded C and capped at 4. [143, 635, 21, 632, 453, 289] | contradicted | spotify/transparency set to 4 (grade C); error in the first pass: factual. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/scores.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-07 | televisaunivision-audio/targeting: n/e (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (2). | AUD-M6-S23 is the TV and Radio terms, still linked as 'Terms for Purchase of Media (TV & Radio)' from TU's advertiser pages, so C4 does not exclude it. It says the Order specifies whether ads are 'scheduled by time or by program' (5.1) and that TU will air them 'on the Days and at the approximate hourly times provided in the Order' (9.6). That is programme or daypart context, family (a), which the definition names, so the cell is anchor 2 at grade C. The first pass's exclusions are correct: AUD-M6-S26 dates from 2023 (C4), the GEOS and DMA fields in AUD-M6-S24 are blank (C5), and the household graph in AUD-M6-S25 is TV and video only (F09). But the first pass says the only audio targeting found is the AdsWizz case study, which misses S23; even the narrowest reading of S23 gives anchor 1, not n/e. Coordinator: The terms schedule ads "by time or by program" (AUD-M6-S23, 5.1), so n/e was wrong. Every other radio row that sells by station and daypart is calibrated at anchor 1 (C5), so this row is set to 1, not the adjudicator’s 2; whether daypart scheduling counts as family (a) would move every radio row together and is left at the calibrated reading. [645, 646, 647, 648] | contradicted | televisaunivision-audio/targeting set to 1 (grade C); error in the first pass: factual. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-08 | televisaunivision-audio/creative: n/e (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (1). | AUD-M6-S23, the current TV and Radio terms, requires the agency to supply 'two broadcast quality copies of each Ad' that meet the Company Advertising Guidelines & Specifications, whose guidelines are published at a URL (1.6, 4.2, 4.3). That is anchor 1, published specifications for advertiser-supplied spots, at grade C. The first pass and the verifier's spot-check are right that AUD-M6-S25 and AUD-V-M6-S05 name no audio creative function. But a supported n/e does not trigger C2, and S23 gives a basis to score, so n/e is wrong. S23's generic 'production services' (2.1) is not tied to audio, so the second pass's 1 rather than 2 is defensible. [647, 649, 648] | contradicted | televisaunivision-audio/creative set to 1 (grade C); error in the first pass: anchor_application. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-09 | urban-one/creative: n/e (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (2). | AUD-M4-S14 (the STACs, dated 2026-08-17) says that for Radio One & Urban One 'Advertising Materials that required Company-produced elements shall be delivered at least two (2) business days in advance of Exhibition'. That documents in-house production of ad elements for the radio inventory, family (d), so the cell is anchor 2 at grade C. The first pass reads AUD-M4-S18 and AUD-M4-S16 correctly: One Solution names no audio ad production, and the 'over 150 on-air talents' come with no read programme. But its claim that no Urban One source names audio ad production is contradicted by S14. Even without that clause, the STACs' delivery and conformance rules for advertiser-furnished materials would give anchor 1, not n/e. [650, 651, 652] | contradicted | urban-one/creative set to 2 (grade C); error in the first pass: factual. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| AJ-10 | urban-one/optimisation: n/e (counted as n/e) | Material disagreement with the blind second pass (1). | AUD-M4-S14 documents scheduled delivery with makegoods. An omitted Exhibition is re-run 'at a reasonably satisfactory substitute date and time' or its charges are waived (s.3). A preempted Exhibition is rescheduled 'in a comparable time period' or made good by another Exhibition or a credit (s.4). That is anchor 1, delivery guarantees and basic pacing only, at grade C. The first pass cited S14 but looked only for components (a) to (d). It is right that nothing documents an outcome objective, in-flight optimisation or pacing and frequency controls: AUD-B-S15 names none for radio, and the frequency control in AUD-M4-S37 is on third-party platforms (C14). But anchor 1 is met, so n/e is wrong. [68, 652, 653] | contradicted | urban-one/optimisation set to 1 (grade C); error in the first pass: anchor_application. | Adjudication against the sources (R5-03). | data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json |
| FR-01 | Guidelines v2.3 described as a draft, not final on 28 September 2026. | Freeze recheck [C]. | IAB Tech Lab released v2.3 as final on 29 September 2026; the final text defines the same four metrics (section 6). [16, 45, 19] | supported with qualification | Chapters 1, 4, 13 and 14 and AUD-C-F01, F07, F08 and F18 updated; H2 re-tested on the final text and holds. Every listing was still certified against v2.2 on 30 September. |  | chapters 1, 4, 13, 14; data/claims-overlay.json |
| FR-02 | EMARKETER June 2026 forecasts presented as its current figures. | Freeze recheck [A]. | EMARKETER forecast pages now label an August-September 2026 vintage; values paywalled. [49] | supported with qualification | Chapter 2 and AUD-A-F07/F08 say the June figures are superseded. |  | chapter 2; data/claims-overlay.json |
| FR-03 | AudioGraph general availability not established. | Freeze recheck [E]. | iHeartMedia, 23 September 2026: available as a managed service on owned broadcast inventory in the top 50 US markets. [192] | supported with qualification | Chapter 6 and AUD-E-F10, AUD-IHEART-F15 updated; the H3 code (attribution through partners) is unchanged. |  | chapter 6; data/claims-overlay.json |
| FR-04 | Chapter 8: no IAS or DoubleVerify classification of podcast or streaming-audio inventory outside YouTube was found. | Freeze recheck [G]. | IAS, 16 June 2026: episode-level pre-bid contextual segments for Spotify podcasts via The Trade Desk from July 2026. [299] | contradicted | Chapter 8 and AUD-G-F15 corrected; live status after July not confirmed. No cell rescored: Spotify’s brand-safety cell already names IAS pre-bid on press-release evidence (grade D). |  | chapter 8; data/claims-overlay.json |
| FR-05 | Nielsen-DoubleVerify deal pending with no later filing through 28 September. | Freeze recheck [G]. | DEFM14A of 29 September 2026: HSR waiting period expired 21 September; stockholder vote 29 October 2026. [303] | supported with qualification | Chapter 8 and AUD-G-F16 updated; still pending. |  | chapter 8; data/claims-overlay.json |
| FR-06 | Barometer in Basis recorded as announced only. | Freeze recheck [G]. | Barometer and Magellan AI release of 15 September 2026 lists Basis among platforms where Barometer is live. [273] | supported with qualification | Chapter 8 notes the release; no cell changed. |  | chapter 8 |
| FR-07 | NO FAKES Act: no reported, passed or enacted version found. | Freeze recheck [K]. | S. 4591, NO FAKES Act of 2026: reported by Senate Judiciary 24 June 2026; on the Senate calendar. [435] | contradicted | Chapter 11, AUD-K-F28 and the rules row corrected. |  | chapter 11; data/claims-overlay.json; data/rules-overlay.json |
| FR-08 | Foreign-sponsorship rules: ordinary spot advertising outside them; (j)(3) effective 10 June 2025. | Freeze recheck [K]. | FCC DA 26-526 (26 May 2026): lease compliance 7 June 2026; technical requirements for covered ads and paid PSAs suspended two years. [417] | supported with qualification | Chapter 11, AUD-K-F09 and the rules row updated. |  | chapter 11; data/claims-overlay.json; data/rules-overlay.json |
| FR-09 | MB Docket 24-211: comments closed 4 September 2024, replies 19 September 2024; docket termination not checked. | Freeze recheck [K]. | FCC DA 24-849 extended the deadlines to 19 September and 11 October 2024; ECFS lists no termination. [438] | contradicted | Chapter 11, AUD-K-F31 and the rules row corrected. |  | chapter 11; data/claims-overlay.json; data/rules-overlay.json |
| FR-10 | The Commission’s AI Omnibus page lists no change to the Article 50 transparency rules. | Freeze recheck [K]. | Commission FAQ (24 July 2026): machine-readable marking for generative systems already on the market applies from 2 December 2026. [442] | contradicted | Chapter 11, AUD-K-F33 and the rules row corrected. |  | chapter 11; data/claims-overlay.json; data/rules-overlay.json |
| FR-11 | Cumulus FCC approval on 17 August 2026 from trade press; FCC record not opened. | Freeze recheck [B]. | FCC public notice PN-2-260819-01: transfers granted 17 August 2026. [82] | supported as stated | Chapter 3 cites the FCC notice; emergence still pending on 30 September. |  | chapter 3 |
| FR-12 | Beasley status recorded to the 24 September 8-K. | Freeze recheck [U]. | 424B5 (dated 28 September, filed 30 September 2026): registered direct offering; proceeds and two station sales to pay down debt. [89] | supported with qualification | Chapter 3 adds the September financing; no change of control and no cure of the Nasdaq notice found. |  | chapter 3 |
| FR-13 | Agentic chapter without the Amazon Ads Agent rename or Magnite’s orchestration release. | Freeze recheck [D, I]. | Amazon Ads, 29 September 2026; Magnite, 16 September 2026. Neither names a protocol or a transaction. [402, 399] | supported with qualification | Chapter 10 records both; no protocol state and no H6 change. |  | chapter 10 |
| FX-01 | The evidence panel, site search and source backlinks showed each claim as first written, even where a verifier had corrected it. | Found by the sibling attention paper’s review of the shared kit. | build/paper.template.html used c.claim in three places. | contradicted | All three now show the corrected wording; the panel lists the original as "As first written" where it differs. |  | build/paper.template.html |
| R2-01 | AUD-A-F17: the Amazon Ads/EMARKETER survey covered 100 US marketers. | Reviewer: the methodology note says 100 marketers worldwide. | EMARKETER article methodology note (AUD-NFA-S01) says worldwide; the report registration page (AUD-NFA-S03) says US marketers; the 55% and 39% barrier figures are confirmed in EMARKETER's own 26 Feb 2026 article (AUD-NFA-S02). [459, 462, 458] | supported with qualification | AUD-A-F17 now says 100 marketers, described as worldwide in EMARKETER's methodology note and as US marketers on the report page; the survey is labelled as run with Amazon Ads, an audio seller. Q1 codes it as a survey of unclear geography, not a US survey. | EMARKETER describes the sample two ways; the paper states both. | AUD-A-F17, Q1 coding, chapter on what limits spend |
| R2-02 | Capability sweeps treated podcast compliance listings as current under the 24-month fallback in scoring-rules.json. | Reviewer: IAB Tech Lab states a 12-month recertification term, so the fallback does not apply. | Compliance Guide v2.3 (April 2024) p.15: recertify when 'Twelve (12) months have passed since the last certification test'; 'If the integration partner cannot be certified within 12 months, then the status will be changed to ‘expired’'; p.15 2c allows case-by-case flexibility; p.16 defines Active, Expired and Suspended. The public list has no status column and marks no listing expired; 11 of 34 podcast listings were last certified more than 12 months before 29 Sep 2026. [20, 15] | supported with qualification | counting_assurance: a listing counts as current only within the issuing body's stated 12-month term. A listing past that term with no status shown is 'no longer current, status not shown' and is read at anchor 3 (the anchor for a certification in the record that is not current), never 5 or 4, and never 0 unless the record itself shows Expired or Suspended. The anchor text in scoring-rules.json was clarified before any cell was scored. | The rule already required the stated validity period; the anchor did not say which level a stale listing earns. The public page shows no status, so a lapse is not documented and 0 does not apply. | counting_assurance cells of Simplecast, AdsWizz publisher platform, AdsWizz Audio Marketplace, Triton Ad Platform (TAP), Omny Studio, Spreaker, SiriusXM Media, and any other row relying on a listing last certified more than 12 months before the cutoff |
| R2-06 | Omny Studio counting_assurance rationale follows the R2-02 rule. | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | Omny Studio counting_assurance rationale follows the R2-02 rule. [15] | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-07 | Spreaker counting_assurance rationale follows the R2-02 rule. | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | Spreaker counting_assurance rationale follows the R2-02 rule. [15] | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-08 | SiriusXM Media counting_assurance at anchor 4 via AdsWizz and Simplecast listings. | Reviewer: those listings date from 15 May 2025; no MRC digital entry exists for SiriusXM, Pandora, AdsWizz or Simplecast. | IAB list: AdsWizz (Ad Delivery) and Simplecast (Download, Listener), both 2025-05-15, sharing one SiriusXM certificate. MRC digital page: no audio or podcast service at all (0 hits for Sirius, Pandora, AdsWizz, Simplecast, audio, podcast). [15, 116] | supported as stated | SiriusXM Media counting_assurance scored under the R2-02 rule (no longer current, anchor 3). | Same rule as R2-02. | SiriusXM Media/counting_assurance |
| R2-09 | Spotify Advertising/us_coverage anchor 5 (US ad sales operation documented in a filing). | Reviewer: the 20-F names Spotify USA Inc. as the US operating company but documents no US advertising sales operation. | 20-F Item 4.C lists 'Spotify USA Inc. USA operating company'; other subsidiaries are labelled 'Sales, marketing…'. A full-text search found no passage placing an advertising sales operation in the US. [21] | supported as stated | us_coverage anchor 4 (national US coverage documented, US sales operation not documented in a filing). The profile verifier had reached the same reading. | Anchor 5 needs the US sales operation in a filing or official record. | Spotify Advertising/us_coverage |
| R2-10 | AUD-D-F10: Triton's integrations page lists 39 DSPs. | Reviewer: the page names 41; the marketplace page says 60+. | Checker counted 41 named entries (some are not DSPs: Magnite is an SSP, Tara Media Strategies an agency, Amobee and Beeswax renamed); the marketplace page heading reads '60+ DSP Integrations'. [152, 153] | contradicted | 41 named partners on Triton's integrations page (not all DSPs), kept apart from Triton's '60+ DSP Integrations' marketing claim. H5's DSP-side counts do not use this page and are unchanged. | Recount on the source page. | AUD-D-F10, programmatic cells of the Triton rows |
| R2-11 | Register: Spotify Ad Exchange is a buying route into the Spotify Advertising row (inference). | Reviewer: Spotify says Megaphone-hosted publishers can book PMP deals via SAX from 2026; classify SAX as unsettled for cohort B. | Newsroom 1 Oct 2025 quote confirmed. Megaphone PMP help (15 Jul 2026): 'PMP deals can only deliver in shows that are Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) enabled' and 'compete alongside the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) in an auction'; publishers set floors for their own inventory. No Spotify or Megaphone page offers or licenses SAX to publishers outside Megaphone and SPAN. [141, 159, 11] | supported with qualification | SAX stays an alias of Spotify Advertising for buyers (the inventory it clears is SPAN-enabled, so counted once there). The publisher-side PMP function is scored on the Megaphone row, where it is documented. The register records both facts and labels the classification an inference that would change if Spotify offers SAX to other publishers. | The record shows SAX clearing only Spotify-owned and SPAN-enabled inventory; no separately supplied exchange service is documented. | product register (Spotify Advertising, Megaphone), Megaphone/programmatic |
| R2-12 | Register: TuneIn's DAX evidence is an older About page only. | Reviewer: current Global pages still name TuneIn as DAX-represented. | Both Global pages are UK-facing (Ofcom licence, UK reach). The brand-safety PDF shows a TuneIn logo in the DAX Streaming panel; the national-advertising page says DAX represents 'SoundCloud, ITV, Sky and TuneIn'. Neither establishes a current US mandate. [104, 105] | supported with qualification | TuneIn stays listed (unsettled US role); the reason now cites the UK-facing Global pages and DAX US sellers.json entries and says no source establishes a current US mandate. | The pages are real and current but about the UK. | product register: TuneIn advertising |
| R2-13 | AUD-D-F09: H5's ownership share is 'sensitive' (35% pooled, 53% without The Trade Desk's directory). | Reviewer: the registered pooled count meets the contradicted condition; dropping a DSP is only a sensitivity. | Registered rule in data/hypotheses.json (H5: supported above half, contradicted at half or fewer); pooled count 15 of 43 = 35%. The stream verifier reached the same reading. | supported as stated | H5 ownership part reads 'contradicted' on the registered pooled count (low confidence, because counts of named integrations are not spend). The 53% figure without The Trade Desk's directory is reported as a sensitivity only. | Preregistered rule. | AUD-D-F09, H5 verdict, rails chapter |
| R2-14 | H2 verdict | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | H2 verdict: no change; confirmed against v2.2 and the IAB/MRC attention guidelines. | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-15 | H6 | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | H6: no change. The 20 Aug 2026 iHeartMedia release reports a completed streaming-audio campaign and names no protocol (AdCP, AAMP or MCP); the paper attributes no protocol to it and treats 'industry first' and the 42% figure as the companies' own claims. [397] | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-16 | Register: Google-sold US YouTube audio listed as retiring. | Reviewer: classification fair; quote from answer 10407880. | Answer 10407880 has no end date; answer 17255973 gives Phase 1 (from 1 Sep 2026, no new US campaigns; existing ones serve through 4 Nov 2026) and Phase 2 (from 5 Nov 2026, US auction-based audio stops) and names SiriusXM Media as exclusive US representative. [654, 37] | supported with qualification | Both phases are dated and cited to answer 17255973; the listing stays retiring. | Cite the page that carries the timeline. | product register; YouTube passages |
| R2-17 | Cumulus shown as plan-confirmed and still in Chapter 11. | Reviewer: correct; recheck at the freeze. | 10-Q (30 Jun 2026) conditions emergence on FCC approval; 14 Aug 2026 release: 'positioned to emerge'. EDGAR showed no Cumulus filing after 14 Aug 2026 on 29 Sep 2026. [81, 86] | supported as stated | None; stays on the freeze recheck list. |  | Cumulus register row |
| R2-18 | Spreaker to ad technology | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | Spreaker to ad technology: no change; the help article scopes dynamic insertion to Spreaker's Ad Exchange programme. [655] | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-19 | AdsWizz publisher platform and AdsWizz Audio Marketplace as two rows. | Reviewer: the split is analytical, not a demonstrated separate-contract distinction. | The register already labels the split an inference; the Simplecast sales order is a reseller order, not an AdsWizz contract (U verifier). | supported as stated | The method chapter calls the AdsWizz and Triton splits analytical splits of one company's services, inferred from their documentation, and flags the possible double count within cohort B. |  | method chapter; cohort B |
| R2-20 | Triton split | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | Triton split: no change; 'TAP Programmatic replaces Yield-Op as the home of programmatic advertising at Triton Digital for publishers and ad networks'. [656] | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-21 | Adelaide AU (audio channels) stays described as pre-audit reviewed 5/2026, audit not begun. | Reviewer marked correct or wording only. | Adelaide AU (audio channels) stays described as pre-audit reviewed 5/2026, audit not begun. | supported as stated | No change beyond the note. |  |  |
| R2-22 | H3 sample coding: Triton documents IP or household matching. | Reviewer: the H3 majority holds with the verifier's corrections (ArtsAI = Claritas; Megaphone pixel). | Triton Attribution 101 (image PDF, both pages read): IP address, user agent and episode ID are passed; 'confirm with your attribution partner that they can ingest and match on just an IP address'; the word 'household' does not appear. Magellan's page describes pixel attribution on IP addresses and conversion events. [175, 179] | supported with qualification | Triton is coded 'IP address, matched by the advertiser's attribution partner', not household. H3 is computed on the corrected sample (no ArtsAI double count; Megaphone coded pixel). | The document never says household and places the matching with the partner. | H3 sample table, Triton measurement cells |
| R3-01 | H3 sample of 16 products (9 of 10 documented, 9 of 14 with undocumented added). | Reviewer: the sample omitted scored rows whose documentation describes attribution (Audacy, National Public Media, Odeeo, PodcastOne). | Rebuilt under the registered population rule: 5 measurement-table products with an attribution function (Edison Research and Nielsen Audio have none) plus 20 scored rows whose own documentation describes one, merged to 23 products (Spotify Advertising = Spotify Ad Analytics; the two Triton rows share one method document; ArtsAI is Claritas). Veritonic is outside the registered population. The refute-mode verifier recoded Acast as mixed and National Public Media and Salem as undocumented (NPM’s only method passage is a 2022 programmatic-guaranteed kit naming a partner product; Salem lists promo-code usage among metrics, not as a method). [184, 189, 187, 197, 198] | supported with qualification | H3 now reads 11 of 12 (91.7%) with a documented method and 11 of 19 (57.9%) with undocumented products added: supported, narrowly. Adding the 4 mixed products gives 11 of 23 (47.8%), a sensitivity only; treating the two oldest supporting pages as undocumented and recoding Claritas together would make it unresolved. Chapters 6, 11 and 13, the abstract, the plain edition, fig-attribution-methods and AUD-NFA-F01 updated. | Registered population rule. | scripts/derivations.mjs (H3), data/claims-extra.json AUD-NFA-F01, chapters 0, 6, 11, 13, plain.md, fig-attribution-methods |
| R3-02 | iHeartMedia coded "device graph or ID" in the H3 sample. | Reviewer: the code came from a targeting sentence; attribution runs through partners. | iHeartMedia’s Order Terms s.6.7 say attribution is a third-party service it does not provide; its advertiser article lists pixel-based tracking, survey-based lift studies and third-party attribution tools with no default; AudioGraph maps exposure to IDs evaluated through partners. [187, 190] | contradicted | iHeartMedia coded mixed (not undocumented, as the reviewer proposed, because its own pages list several methods). | Code from an explicit attribution passage; a list of alternatives without a default is mixed. | H3 sample, chapter 6 |
| R3-03 | audioboom/inventory_scale = 3 on 183 million average monthly downloads and video views (Q2 2026). | Reviewer: the figure mixes downloads with video views; the anchor needs an audio metric. | Audioboom’s KPI definition: distribution counts “audio downloads and video views”; no audio-only or US-only download figure is published (H1 2026 report, FY2025 results). [196, 71] | contradicted | Cell set to n/e. Audioboom stays Strong. | C8: downloads and other units are never mixed. | data/matrix-extra.json audioboom/inventory_scale |
| R3-04 | audiomob/brand_safety = 2 on third-party verification via OM SDK (IAS, HUMAN, DoubleVerify). | Reviewer: OM SDK measurement integration does not establish verification of the content around the ad. | Audiomob’s pages offer Open Measurement tags from IAS, HUMAN or DoubleVerify to “verify our inventory” without stating what they verify; documented uses are measurement, delivery and fraud; its brand-safety controls are its own curation; TAG Brand Safety is a process certification. No other row’s brand-safety cell relied on measurement-only verification. [552] | contradicted | Cell set to n/e; convention C12 now states that third-party verification counts only where it verifies content (added 29 September 2026, applied to every brand_safety cell; only Audiomob changed). Audiomob stays Mid. | Dimension definition: controls over the content around an ad. | data/scores.json audiomob/brand_safety, data/scoring-rules.json scoring_conventions C12 |
| R3-05 | Chapter 13 treats the Amazon Ads and EMARKETER survey as a qualifying Q1 source. | Reviewer: the question wording is unavailable, so the survey fails the registered rule. | The Westwood One (Cumulus) blog already in the record (AUD-A-S17) quotes the question: “What challenges prevent greater investment in digital audio at your organization?”, with the 55% and 36% items (re-read with WebFetch on 29 September 2026). EMARKETER’s own articles do not print it. [460] | supported as stated | Survey kept as qualifying; chapter 13 now quotes the wording and says it is known second-hand, from a seller; AUD-A-F17 final wording updated; the source note that said no wording was given is superseded by this entry. | The wording needed to code the constraints is in the record. | chapter 13, data/claims-overlay.json AUD-A-F17 |
| R3-06 | fig-q1-constraints showed classes with no coded item as 0%. | Reviewer: no coded item is not a measured zero. | The derivation returned 0 when a class had no item. [461, 463] | contradicted | Classes with no coded item are now null and drawn as gaps labelled "none", with a note that this is not a 0% response. | Missing is not zero. | scripts/derivations.mjs, scripts/paper-figures.mjs, fig-q1-constraints |
| R3-07 | Matrix rationales cite conventions C1 to C16 that the package did not define; the shared rules were not in the package. | Reviewer: reproducibility. | Conventions were set in the scoring brief on 29 September 2026 and applied in the scoring and calibration passes. | structural | data/scoring-rules.json now carries scoring_conventions (C1 to C16, with the date each took effect); a dated copy of SHARED-RESEARCH-RULES.md (v3) ships in the package. | Readers can reconstruct every rule used. | data/scoring-rules.json, SHARED-RESEARCH-RULES.md, build/package.mjs |
| R3-08 | Chapter 8: no later source confirmed Sounder’s launch at Audioboom. | Reviewer: the scores cite Audioboom’s FY2025 results reporting the launch. | FY2025 Final Results (16 April 2026), “Key commercial developments”: “Launched AI capabilities in Showcase through the integration of Sounder AI”. AUD-M7-F05 cites it under a different heading. [71, 282] | contradicted | Chapter 8 now attributes the launch to the FY2025 results, as a one-line issuer statement without mechanics or independent confirmation. |  | chapter 8 |
| R3-09 | Chapter 8: Spotify’s help centre could not be rendered, so current settings are unconfirmed. | Reviewer: the score relies on the current help page. | The verifier read the US brand-suitability page through a summarising fetch; it was re-read in a rendering browser for this round: four sensitive-topic levels under “Contextual placement controls”, per-topic custom settings, transcript-based episode classification; no show-level lists. [288, 289] | contradicted | Chapter 8 now describes the current page and how it was read. |  | chapter 8 |
| R3-10 | Chapter 3: Acast reports North America without a US split. | Reviewer: contradicts the US customer-location figure given earlier. | Annual Report 2025, note 3: North America segment SEK 964.2m; US-located customers SEK 874.8m (34.8% of net sales). [72, 73] | contradicted | Sentence now says neither the segment nor the customer-location figure is US audio advertising revenue. |  | chapter 3 |
| R3-11 | Rules table: ELVIS Act signed 26 March 2024. | Reviewer: chapter 11 gives 21 March. | Bill history HB2091: signed by the Governor 03/21/2024; Public Chapter 588 03/26/2024; effective 07/01/2024. The stream verifier had already corrected the finding. [431] | contradicted | Rules table overlay: signed 21 March 2024; Public Chapter 588 dated 26 March 2024; effective 1 July 2024. |  | data/rules-overlay.json |
| R3-12 | Figure data, accessible text and AUD-A-F19 described the first survey as 100 US marketers. | Reviewer: the geography is unclear. | R2-01. [459] | supported with qualification | Relabelled "100 marketers, geography unclear" in figure data and accessible text; AUD-A-F19 final wording updated. |  | scripts/derivations.mjs, data/claims-overlay.json |
| R3-13 | Cover summary: no public attention or retention claim has independent support; buyers say measurement holds them back. | Reviewer: unbounded absence and generalisation from two surveys. | Chapters 7 and 13 bound both claims. | supported with qualification | Cover summary now says "claims this review coded" and "in the two buyer surveys it could code". |  | paper.config.json hero_summary |
| R3-14 | Plain edition heading: the pipes are not shut. | Reviewer: access is unresolved. | H5 access part unresolved. | supported with qualification | Heading now: the big firms own some pipes; how open they are is not clear. |  | plain.md |
| R3-15 | Method text: group means plus shrinkage avoid rewarding missing evidence. | Reviewer: the deletion test shows a left-out low score can still raise a quotient. | Chapter 12 deletion results. | supported with qualification | why_not_a_sum now says shrinkage reduces the effect without removing it and points to the deletion test; band eligibility is described as a separate guard. |  | data/scoring-rules.json |
| R3-16 | fig-evidence-audit described every public claim found. | Reviewer: the chapter says more claims were found than coded. | AUD-F-F21 verifier: at least four more claims on pages screened. | supported with qualification | Title, caption and scope now say "coded" and note the coded set is incomplete. |  | scripts/paper-figures.mjs, fig-evidence-audit |
| R4-01 | Bands named Front rank, Strong, Mid and Narrow; a ± mark on bands sensitive to missing evidence. | Reviewer: all 20 seller rows with n/e cells change band under a fill scenario, so the bands are unstable; "Front rank" and "Strong" read as endorsements. | Chapter 12: 20 of 24 seller bands move under the 1/4 fills (q_sensitive_missing_sellers); Hubbard Radio’s Depth rests on 1 of 5 counted dimensions. | supported with qualification | Bands renamed Most documented, Well documented, Partly documented and Least documented (same thresholds). Every flagged band is marked provisional in the matrix, its note and export (with the scenario span) and in fig-quotient; the abstract and chapter 12 say how many seller bands are provisional. | The instability was disclosed but not shown where readers read the bands. | data/scoring-rules.json, build/instruments.mjs, scripts/make-figures.mjs, chapters 0, 9, 12, 14, plain.md |
| R4-02 | Grade caps fold the type of evidence into the capability score without saying so where scores are read. | Reviewer: report capability and evidence confidence separately; the scale thresholds equate stations, audience and deliveries. | Spotify workflow meets anchor 5 and scores 4 under the C cap (AUD-SPOTIFY-S12); inventory_scale anchor 5 = 500 stations, 100 million monthly audience or 1 billion monthly deliveries. | supported with qualification | Chapters 0 and 12 now say a score is documented capability discounted for its evidence and that each cell’s grade is shown; the scale equivalences are named as the author’s assumptions. A separate confidence score was not built for this edition, because it would change the method shared with the series. | Disclosure now; redesign deferred. | chapters 0, 12, 14 |
| R4-03 | H3 codes "IP, household or pixel" as one class. | Reviewer: the class mixes an identifier, a matching level and a collection mechanism and says nothing about causal design; 11 of 23 with mixed products is fragile. | Podscribe documents pixel attribution and randomised listener holdouts (AUD-E-S08). [1] | supported with qualification | Chapters 0, 6 and 13 say what the codes record and do not; the registered count stands, and the result is called a fragile basis for any general statement. A four-way recoding (collection, matching unit, extrapolation, causal design) was not registered and is not run in this edition. | Keep the registered test; bound its reading. | chapters 0, 6, 13 |
| R4-04 | H5 ownership part "contradicted" on the registered pooled count. | Reviewer: a count of directory entries cannot settle how much buying runs through owned rails; leaving out The Trade Desk moves the share from 35% to 53%. | figure-data h5: 15/43 = 34.9%; excluding The Trade Desk directory 9/17 = 52.9%. | supported with qualification | The verdict now applies to the registered measure only; the abstract, chapter 13 and the verdict summary say the market question is unresolved without spend or transaction data. | A registered proxy is still a proxy. | chapters 0, 13 |
| R4-05 | "Insufficient evidence" read as one undifferentiated class. | Reviewer: the class mixes a strong seller-run experiment, opaque models and bare assertions. | The study table (chapter 6) already records design, n, uncertainty and sponsor per study; replication is not a column. | supported with qualification | Chapters 0, 7 and 13 say what the class holds and point to the study table; replication was not coded. | Show what a study establishes even when it cannot count as independent. | chapters 0, 7, 13 |
| R4-06 | Headlines stated the Q1, Q4 and H3 findings more broadly than their bounds. | Reviewer: two surveys (one Australian, one of unclear geography) and a screen without an academic database search support bounded observations only; say the paper audits public proof. | Chapter 13 limits; AUD-E-F18 bound. | supported as stated | The hero summary, abstract, verdict summaries, site texts and plain edition now say the paper audits public proof and does not test whether audio works, and carry the survey and screen bounds. | Let the limits govern the quotable lines. | paper.config.json, chapters 0 and 13, plain.md |
| R4-07 | Buyer guidance reached readers late. | Reviewer: open with what buyers can establish, what to ask for and which tests would justify more spend; move review history out of the abstract. | Abstract of 1,504 words (with the interests note). | supported as stated | A short "What a buyer can do with this" section follows the summary; the reading guide and one market sentence were cut. | Decision first, method behind it. | chapter 0 |
| R4-08 | Scores came from one AI-assisted pass and a calibration pass, with no second scorer. | Reviewer: add a blind second scoring pass on a sample of cells, including every band-boundary case. | data/second-pass.json: 17 rows (offset within 2 points of a band line, or band moves under a K or reweighting variant), 200 cells; exact agreement 144 (72%); within one point on 162 of 168 cells both scored (96%); 4 of 17 rows would change band on the second pass’s scores. | supported as stated | Run with separate AI scorers given the rules, sources and verified claims but not the first scores. Reported in chapters 12 and 14 and in data/second-pass.json; no first-pass score was replaced. | A reproducibility check the paper lacked. | data/second-pass.json, chapters 0, 12, 14, plain.md |
| R4-09 | Research cutoff 2 October 2026 while the sources were read on 28-29 September. | Reviewer: label 2 October as the planned freeze, since the record was collected on 28-29 September. | Publication on 30 September 2026. | supported with qualification | The cutoff moved to 30 September 2026, the publication day, and the freeze recheck ran that day (FR entries). Scoring lines fixed from the registered 2 October date (2 October 2024 and 2 October 2025) were kept; no listing or source falls between the two dates in a way that changes a score. | A paper cannot claim evidence to a date that has not arrived. | paper.config.json, scripts/derivations.mjs, data/scoring-rules.json, chapters 0 and 14, plain.md |
| R5-01 | data/second-pass.json cited in chapters 12 and 14 but absent from the published data and the download list. | Reviewer: the file returns 404, so the agreement statistics cannot be recomputed. | The export list in build/make-csv.mjs and build/datasets.mjs did not include it. | supported as stated | data/second-pass.json and data/second-pass.csv are exported and listed with the other downloads. |  | build/make-csv.mjs, build/datasets.mjs |
| R5-02 | Spreaker’s band moved under the second pass but carried no flag; only missing-evidence sensitivity was marked. | Reviewer: flag scorer-sensitive bands and show the reason beside each affected band. | The build now recomputes each re-scored row’s band with the second pass’s scores. | supported as stated | Bands the second scorer moves are marked † beside the ± for missing evidence in the matrix, its notes and exports, the LQ CSV and fig-quotient; chapters 0 and 12 give the count. |  | build/build-matrix.mjs, build/instruments.mjs, build/make-csv.mjs, scripts/make-figures.mjs, scripts/stats.mjs, chapters 0, 12 |
| R5-03 | The second pass was reported beside the first, with no disagreement resolved. | Reviewer: adjudicate the material disagreements against the evidence, keeping both passes. | 29 cells adjudicated (n/e against a score, two points or more apart, one-point differences on rows whose band moved); 10 first-pass errors corrected (AJ-01 to AJ-10), 19 kept. | supported as stated | Corrections applied to the matrix after the coordinator re-read each deciding passage; data/second-pass.json keeps both passes and each adjudication. Cumulus rises to Well documented, PodcastOne and Beasley fall to Partly documented. |  | data/scores.json, data/matrix-extra.json, data/second-pass.json, chapters 0, 12, 14, plain.md |
| R5-04 | "No vendor funded, reviewed or saw the paper." | Reviewer: qualify with "before publication", if it can be confirmed. | The research contacted no third party; drafts went only to the author and an outside AI model that is not a vendor in the paper. | supported with qualification | Now "No vendor funded, reviewed or saw the paper before publication." |  | chapters 0, 14 |
| SC-01 | First-pass scores from the per-file scoring agents. | Cross-row calibration pass per dimension group (Depth, Reach, Standing): same evidence must earn the same score. | Calibration agents compared every cell of each dimension within each cohort against the anchors and conventions C1 to C16. | structural | 20 cells changed: adswizz-marketplace/targeting 2→3; odeeo/targeting 3→2; urban-one/creative 2→ne; beasley/creative 3→3; salem/creative 3→3; cumulus/measurement 3→1; urban-one/measurement 3→1; podcastone/measurement 2→1; soundstack/optimisation 2→1; spreaker/optimisation 2→1; hubbard/workflow ne→1; omny-studio/programmatic 3→2; spreaker/programmatic 3→2; megaphone/inventory_scale 3→4; libsyn-ads/inventory_scale ne→3; iheartmedia/counting_assurance 4→3; urban-one/counting_assurance 2→3; amazon-audio/counting_assurance 3→2; megaphone/transparency 3→4; odeeo/transparency 3→2 | Two readings of the same evidence, anchors misread, or n/e cells whose own rationale met an anchor. | data/scores.json, data/matrix-extra.json |
| SC-02 | Townsquare Media counting_assurance = 0 (diary service on hiatus). | Calibration flagged that the 0 rests on inferring that its rated markets are diary markets. | Anchor 0 needs the issuing body's record itself to show a lapse for the counting system the row uses; which Townsquare markets are diary-rated is not documented in the sources opened. [70, 6, 118, 15] | supported with qualification | counting_assurance set to n/e; the absence of accredited counting stays in the rationale. | No score from inference at the 0 anchor. | data/matrix-extra.json townsquare/counting_assurance |

### What could not be reached

Of 993 sources, 71 were read only in part: as an abstract, a partial extract, or through another route after an access error. Nothing is quoted from a part that was not read.

Paywalls. EMARKETER's radio and digital audio benchmarks could be read only as an abstract, and its radio forecast could not be opened. With BIA's forecast local only, this review found no current public level estimate of total US radio advertising that includes national spot and network radio, in the sources screened by 28 September 2026 [48, 51].

Gated forms. No gated form was filled in. The full Amazon Ads and EMARKETER report sits behind one, so only its registration page, two EMARKETER articles and a trade summary were read [458, 459, 462, 461]. Podscribe's benchmark reports sit behind a request form, so their figures come from trade reporting and landing pages [466, 209]. The Accords of AMP, the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting, were not read for the same reason [130].

Script-rendered and blocked pages. Spotify's Ads Help Center brand-safety pages returned no readable text to the tools used, so whether Spotify offers show-level allow or block lists is unresolved [467]. SoundStack's API documentation returned only an application shell [468]. An access error is not evidence that a thing does not exist.

### Cutoff and freeze recheck

The research cutoff is 30 September 2026, the day the paper was published. The brief registered Friday 2 October; publishing earlier brought the cutoff forward. The scoring lines fixed from the registered date, 24 and 12 months before 2 October 2026, were kept, since no source or listing falls between the two dates in a way that changes a score. The sources were first opened on 28 and 29 September. On 30 September six agents rechecked every status-sensitive item on the freeze list against its primary record, and the coordinator reopened each changed source before editing.

Most items held. Cumulus Media had not emerged from Chapter 11 [38, 84]. SiriusXM Media's FAQ still described YouTube audio in its buys as starting in Fall 2026 [35, 36, 37]. IAB Tech Lab's record still listed 34 companies, all certified against v2.2 [15]. One status changed: IAB Tech Lab released guidelines v2.3 as final on 29 September, with the same four metrics, so H2 was re-tested and holds [16, 19]. The recheck also found earlier items the record had missed or got wrong: an IAS product for Spotify podcasts, a reported successor to the NO FAKES Act, the AI Omnibus's delay to machine-readable marking, and the comment dates of the FCC's docket on AI in political ads. Each change is its own dated FR entry in the corrections ledger. None moved a band or a verdict.

### Limits

The paper is US first: the geography dimension scores documented US availability only. Scores rest on public documentation, so a private company or one with thin public pages can score lower for that reason alone. Private contract terms are out of reach, which is why H5's access and pricing parts stay unresolved: no public term gives an owner's inventory priority, and no fee or take rate is published. Counts of named integrations are not counts of spend. The vendor universe is a reasoned sample from named seeds and discovery.

Round 4 named further limits. A score folds the type of evidence into the capability it rates, and the scale anchors treat stations, audience and deliveries as equivalent by assumption. H3's single code does not separate an identifier, a matching level and a collection mechanism, and says nothing about causal design. H5's registered measure counts named integrations, not spend. Only the rows nearest a band line were re-scored, and by AI; the other rows rest on one pass and the calibration.

The Q1 survey sample is thin, and one of its two surveys was run with an audio seller. Every public attention, memory, intrusiveness and in-game retention claim coded for Q4 is insufficient evidence: 19 audio claims, 13 in-game retention claims and 6 in-game attention claims. Insufficient is not refuted.

### The claim ledger

Each claim marked in the text is listed below with its evidence class, review outcome and sources.

**Claim ledger**

| ID | Claim (final wording) | Ch. | Evidence class | Review | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUD-C-F01 | IAB Tech Lab released Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines v2.2 for public comment on 22 February 2024 (comment closing 23 March 2024) and as final on 2 May 2024; on 28 September 2026 its guidelines page still listed v2.2 (May 2024) as the current version, and on 29 September 2026 IAB Tech Lab released v2.3 as final. | 1 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [12, 13, 14] |
| AUD-C-F03 | Under v2.2 a dynamically inserted ad counts as delivered only when 100% of its bytes are downloaded, a baked-in ad counts when the portion of the file containing it was downloaded, and no ad counts unless its parent download is valid (at least header plus one minute of content). | 1 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [10] |
| AUD-C-F04 | In v2.2 'Listener' is a count of unique IP address plus user agent combinations within a stated time frame, a device-and-app proxy that the text says can double count (IP-hopping) or undercount (recycled IPs); it does not measure listening. | 1 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [10] |
| AUD-C-F08 | The v2.3 guidelines, a public-comment draft until 29 September 2026 and final from that date, keep the same four metrics (Download, Podcast Consumer/Listener, Ad Delivered, Client-Confirmed Ad Play) with reworded definitions, apply them to audio and video podcasts delivered through open RSS and server-side file delivery (MP3, MP4, HLS), expand the existing URL-prefix, invalid-traffic and measurement-window sections, add enclosure-URL guidance, and add a ±5% tolerance for discrepancies between certified measurers. | 1 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [18] |
| AUD-C-F09 | The Podcast Measurement Compliance Guide is numbered separately from the guidelines: its Version 2.3 (April 2024; change log entry 29 March 2024) implements guidelines v2.2. | 1 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [20, 14] |
| AUD-U-F02 | Spotify's filing defines the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) as a podcast-only marketplace (owned and exclusive podcasts, Megaphone enterprise publishers, Spotify for Creators), while music, podcast, video and display ads are sold across the whole Ad-Supported service; the seeded seller row 'Spotify Audience Network' therefore understates the product, and the row should be named for the whole offer (proposed 'Spotify Advertising') with SPAN, SAX and Ads Manager as aliases. The US operating company is Spotify USA Inc. | 1 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [21] |
| AUD-U-F10 | Westwood One is not sold under a separate selling agreement on the record: Cumulus reports one operating and reportable segment, and its network advertising across owned, operated and affiliated stations is sold by its internal sales team; Westwood One stays an alias inside the Cumulus row, with the inventory from its 7,800+ affiliated stations recorded once there as represented supply. | 1 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [38] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F21 | Megaphone PMP deals are non-guaranteed, first-price auctions that run after guaranteed campaigns and compete with SPAN. They can deliver only in SPAN-enabled shows, carry a floor set by the publisher with no minimum or maximum, and at launch support The Trade Desk, DV360, Yahoo, Amazon and more than 40 DSPs through Magnite's SSP. | 1 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [11] |
| AUD-A-F14 | Owl & Co, as reported by Podcast News Daily, estimates US podcast revenue at $6 billion in 2025 (up 27%), on a report that tracks five revenue streams (direct advertising, programmatic advertising, consumer revenue, branded/work-for-hire and other) and counts video podcasts, with US video podcast revenue at $2.3 billion and video driving 41% of US net podcast advertising revenue. The figure is about 2.1 times IAB/PwC's $2.86 billion; the wider fence (non-advertising streams and video) is the likely reason, but the gap is not decomposed in public. | 1, 2 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | low | [42, 43] |
| AUD-A-F15 | Edison Research at SSRS's Infinite Dial 2026, released with support from SiriusXM Media, found that 58% of Americans aged 12+ (an estimated 167 million) consumed a podcast in the last month and 81% (233 million) listened to online audio, from a January 2026 survey of 2,050 people aged 12+ (about half drawn from the probability-recruited SSRS Opinion Panel, weighted to census); its podcast measure counts watching as well as listening. | 1, 2 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [44] |
| AUD-A-F16 | This review found no published estimate of US in-game audio advertising spend or revenue, bounded to one web search on 28 September 2026 whose results (in-game advertising market reports) were screened by title and snippet and not opened, and to the IAB/PwC FY2025 report, which defines a gaming format and reports gaming advertising growth without an audio split. | 1, 2 | synthesis | supported with qualification | low | [9] |
| AUD-U-F04 | SiriusXM Media is a trade name of Pandora Media, LLC, which sells advertising for Pandora Media, SiriusXM Media Inc. and other contracted entities; SiriusXM is SoundCloud's exclusive ad sales representative in the US and certain European countries, while holding only an equity-method stake in SoundCloud Holdings, LLC. | 1, 3 | synthesis | supported as stated | high | [33, 34] |
| AUD-U-F23 | SiriusXM Media's FAQ still said on 28 September 2026 that YouTube audio would be available in its buys 'starting Fall 2026', while Google's Display & Video 360 help says US YouTube audio campaigns must be set up through SiriusXM from 1 September 2026, blocks new US-targeted audio campaigns from that date, lets existing ones serve through 4 November 2026 and stops US auction-based audio serving from 5 November 2026. This is a transfer of US YouTube audio sales to an exclusive representative, not a retirement of the inventory; whether SiriusXM-sold delivery had started by the freeze is not shown on either page. | 1, 3, 14 | synthesis | supported with qualification | high | [35, 36, 37] |
| AUD-C-F05 | Client-confirmed ad play in v2.2 requires a tracking beacon from the client and should report ad start and quartile markers 'whenever possible'; the guideline itself says aggregator apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify typically do not send playback data, so podcast measurement rests on server logs. | 1, 4 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [10] |
| AUD-C-F06 | H2 (guideline text): no metric defined in the final v2.2 text measures listening time, attention or an advertising outcome; the only attention language is an unsupported assertion in the executive summary ('audiences that remain attentive even during ads'), not a metric. Coded 'supported' for the guideline part of H2, with the qualification that client-confirmed ad play can carry quartile markers of ad playback. | 1, 4, 13 | inference | supported as stated | high | [10] |
| AUD-C-F07 | IAB Tech Lab released Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines v2.3 for public comment on 21 July 2026, with comment open until 19 August 2026; on 28 September 2026 neither the v2.3 page nor the guidelines page showed a final v2.3, and on 29 September 2026 IAB Tech Lab released it as final. It plans a v3.0 for public comment in the middle of 2027. | 1, 4, 14 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [16, 17, 14] |
| AUD-U-F01 | Spotify's 20-F says Spotify announced the launch of Spotify Ad Exchange on 1 April 2025 as a programmatic marketplace for real-time biddable buying of advertising inventory; Spotify's own pages describe it as access to 'Spotify inventory' through more than 40 DSPs. On that record (inference), SAX is a buying route into the Spotify seller row rather than an exchange supplied to other publishers; none of the sources opened states whether SAX also clears third-party podcast inventory monetised through SPAN. | 1, 5, 14, appendix | synthesis | supported with qualification | high | [21, 22] |
| AUD-U-F05 | AdsWizz's own pages describe a publisher platform (AudioServe, Ad Insertion Suite, AudioMax SSP) and a curated marketplace (AdsWizz Audio Marketplace) sold to advertisers; Simplecast's terms let Simplecast podcasters join an 'AdWave Marketplace' (including PodWave) by a Sales Order signed with Simplecast as AdsWizz's sublicensor and reseller. That AdWave is the same service as the AdsWizz Audio Marketplace is not stated in the sources, and the split into two cohort B rows is an inference. | 1, 14, appendix | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [24, 25, 469] |
| AUD-A-F03 | On IAB/PwC's own figures, podcasts were about 34% of US internet audio ad revenue in 2025 (32% in 2024), leaving about $5.5 billion for streaming music, streaming radio and other non-podcast online audio. | 2 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [9] |
| AUD-A-F04 | Projections published by IAB missed in both directions: the May 2024 IAB/PwC study's projections, which applied PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook growth rates to the 2023 base rather than IAB or respondent forecasts, were $2,164.7 million for 2024 and $2,379.0 million for 2025, and the actuals came in 12.4% and 20.3% above them (the projections were 11.0% and 16.9% below the actuals); an IAB staff member's October 2025 statement that 2025 would top $3 billion was at least 4.8% above the $2,862.2 million actual. | 2 | synthesis | supported with qualification | high | [55, 9, 58] |
| AUD-A-F05 | The standalone IAB/PwC US Podcast Advertising Revenue Study was last found as its FY2023 edition (May 2024), which compiled 'net commissionable advertising revenue' from podcast publishers and networks; the Internet Advertising Revenue Report's survey definitions (GAAP commissionable earned revenue, with TAC reported where a company reports gross) apply to the report as a whole and are not restated for its podcast line; both documents show 2023 at $1,925.2 million. | 2 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [55, 9] |
| AUD-A-F06 | In IAB's buyer survey of more than 200 brand and agency decision-makers, released 10 September 2026, US podcast ad spend is projected to grow 8.7% in 2026 (8.6% in January), below social (16.5%), CTV (15.6%), commerce media (13.6%) and digital video excluding CTV (9.4%). | 2 | forecast | supported as stated | medium | [52, 53] |
| AUD-A-F07 | As reported by PPC Land from VAB’s members-only ‘Listen Up & Watch’ deck (circulated 15 September 2026), EMARKETER forecasts dated June 2026 put US digital audio services ad spending at $8.02 billion in 2026, rising to $9.79 billion in 2030, and US audio podcast ad spending at $3.40 billion in 2026 (42% of digital audio), rising to $4.69 billion (48%) in 2030; the VAB slide’s own callout says about 50% for 2030. These are third-hand values, and by 30 September 2026 EMARKETER’s forecast pages carried a newer vintage (August to September 2026) whose values are paywalled, so the June figures are superseded. | 2 | forecast | supported with qualification | low | [47, 48] |
| AUD-A-F08 | On third-hand EMARKETER values from a vintage since superseded (F07), EMARKETER’s 2026 US digital audio forecast ($8.02 billion) sits below IAB/PwC’s 2025 internet audio actual ($8.4 billion) although EMARKETER’s stated definition is wider, and EMARKETER’s 2026 audio podcast forecast ($3.40 billion) is 18.8% above IAB/PwC’s 2025 podcast actual, more than twice the 8.7% growth buyers told IAB to expect; the series measure different quantities and are not joined. | 2 | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [9, 47, 52] |
| AUD-A-F10 | As reported by Radio Ink, BIA's April 2026 vintage had 2026 local over-the-air radio at $10.08 billion (stated as +1.8% from $9.91 billion in 2025; the two levels give +1.7%) and digital radio at $2.38 billion (+5.0%); the September vintage has over-the-air at $9.79 billion (+1.6%), implying a 2025 base near $9.64 billion. Radio Ink headlines the September vintage as a lift to radio's outlook even though its over-the-air level is lower; neither article nor BIA's releases explain the change. | 2 | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [59, 50] |
| AUD-A-F11 | SiriusXM's FY2025 10-K reports advertising revenue of $157 million in its SiriusXM segment (satellite radio and the SiriusXM app; down 6% from $167 million) and $1,615 million in its Pandora and Off-platform segment (up 1%), which covers audio, display and video ads on and off its own platforms, including podcasts, programmatic and technology fees; advertising revenue is recorded net of agency fees and gross of revenue share. | 2 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [34] |
| AUD-A-F22 | IAB's October 2024 audio guide frames the market around a gap between time and money, citing a 2021 WARC figure of 31% of media time spent with audio against 9% of media budgets, and digital audio at 20% of US adult digital media time but 3.1% of 2023 digital ad revenue. | 2 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [54] |
| AUD-A-F23 | WPP Media's June 2026 global midyear release describes audio as plateauing within global content-driven advertising but gives no audio figure, and an Omnicom Media spokesperson confirmed that Magna's December 2025 posting was the last of Interpublic's public forecasts; in the pages read by 28 September 2026 (WPP Media's global midyear release and interactive page), neither group supplies a public 2026 US audio figure. | 2 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [61, 60] |
| AUD-H-F16 | This review found no in-game audio ad spend or revenue estimate from an original market-research publisher (IAB/PwC, eMarketer, Magna, WPP Media, Newzoo, Circana) in the sources screened by the cutoff; the only figure found is Gadsme's September 2022 belief, reported by GamesBeat, that audio ads are worth about $200 million worldwide and in-game audio 'can be an additional $50m in 2026', with no definition or method. | 2, 9 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [62, 63] |
| AUD-B-F01 | Spotify's Ad-Supported segment revenue was EUR 1,836 million in calendar 2025, down 1% from EUR 1,854 million in 2024, and was 11% of total revenue (EUR 17,186 million); the fall came from direct music channels and podcast ad sales (down EUR 116 million on lower fixed CPMs and fewer music impressions), partly offset by automated channels (up EUR 103 million). | 3 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [21] |
| AUD-B-F07 | SiriusXM records advertising revenue gross of revenue-share payments to third parties (it deems itself in control of the service) but net of agency fees, so its advertising line includes amounts later paid to represented publishers and creators. | 3 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [34] |
| AUD-B-F08 | Pandora's ad-supported listener hours, a server-side count of bytes served rather than verified listening, fell 2% to 9.75 billion in 2025. Advertising revenue per thousand listener hours, which excludes AdsWizz and other off-platform revenue, fell 9% to USD 91.78. In Q2 2026 the RPM was USD 87.67, up 2%. | 3 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [34, 65] |
| AUD-B-F12 | iHeartMedia's non-cash trade and barter revenue rose to USD 381.3 million in 2025 from USD 261.8 million. The 10-K cites increased trade revenue as a driver of Digital Audio Group growth. Its segment detail attributes that trade to Digital excluding Podcast (and to Multiplatform) and attributes podcast growth primarily to advertiser demand. The amount of trade inside podcast revenue is not disclosed. | 3 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [66] |
| AUD-B-F16 | Cumulus Media and substantially all subsidiaries filed prepackaged Chapter 11 petitions in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on 4 March 2026 and the court confirmed the plan on 15 April 2026; the plan gives secured 2029 creditors 95% of the new equity plus USD 50 million of exit convertible notes, cancels existing shares, and the reorganised company does not intend to list its shares or keep SEC reporting. | 3 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [79, 80, 81, 657] |
| AUD-B-F17 | Confirmation is not emergence: the Cumulus plan becomes effective only after FCC approval and other conditions; on 26 June 2026 the debtors extended the emergence milestone to 27 October 2026, trade press reports the FCC approved the licence-transfer applications on 17 August 2026, and this review found no 8-K, release or Notice of Effective Date showing emergence in the sources screened by 28 September 2026. | 3 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [80, 81, 83, 84, 657] |
| AUD-B-F19 | Audacy's prepackaged plan became effective and the company emerged from Chapter 11 on 30 September 2024; pre-petition debt holders received 100% of the new equity, existing equity was cancelled, and the company said it would suspend Exchange Act reporting and continue as a private company (it filed a Form 15 the next day). | 3 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [76] |
| AUD-B-F21 | Beasley Broadcast Group's 2025 audio revenue fell 19.2% to USD 156.5 million while digital revenue rose 5.9% to USD 49.5 million. On 1 May 2026 holders of about USD 184.1 million of 2028 second-lien notes exchanged them for USD 98.5 million of 2027 PIK notes. Majority holders may convert those notes, from 31 December 2027 or on default and subject to regulatory approval, into up to 95% of the equity, stepping down to 90%, 85% or 80% if principal is paid down in cash. The June 2026 8-K says this may result in a change of control at a later date. | 3 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [69, 87, 88] |
| AUD-B-F24 | Audioboom Group plc reported 2025 revenue of USD 80.4 million (up 10%), of which USD 74.2 million (92%) came from the USA; its Showcase marketplace earned USD 30.4 million, and it books revenue as principal (gross). | 3 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [71] |
| AUD-B-F27 | Against the IAB/PwC 2025 US podcast figure (USD 2,862 million as reported by Radio Ink; USD 2.9 billion in IAB's release), iHeartMedia's 2025 podcast revenue (USD 563.7 million, not stated to be US-only or audio-only) equals about 19.7%, and Audioboom's 2025 revenue from US customers (USD 74.2 million) about 2.6%. These are ratios of differently defined figures, not market shares, and should not be summed. | 3 | synthesis | supported with qualification | low | [66, 71, 75] |
| AUD-B-F30 | Spotify announced the closure of the Chartable podcast analytics and attribution service on 27 September 2024 (first reported by Podnews) and stopped onboarding new customers immediately. It said features would be removed on 12 December 2024, and that Megaphone-hosted shows would keep SmartLinks and SmartPromos until Spotify introduced them natively in Megaphone, planned from 2025. Both sources predate 12 December and state the plan, not its completion. | 3 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [29, 30] |
| AUD-B-F32 | Stingray Group announced a definitive agreement to acquire TuneIn Holdings on 11 November 2025 and completed it on 19 December 2025, for up to USD 175 million (USD 150 million at closing, up to USD 25 million a year later); Stingray valued it on TuneIn's forecast of USD 110 million revenue for calendar 2025. | 3 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [93, 94] |
| AUD-B-F34 | Edison Research at SSRS ranked Spotify first, the SiriusXM Podcast Network second, iHeartPodcasts third and Red Seat Ventures fourth among US podcast networks by average weekly reach in Q1 2026. Each show is credited to the network that represents its advertising (5,163 weekly podcast consumers aged 13+, unaided recall of shows listened to or watched). This measures ad-representation reach, not advertising revenue. | 3 | commissioned measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [97] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F24 | Edison's Podcast Consumer 2026 found 37% of US weekly podcast consumers use YouTube most often for podcasts, up from 31% in 2024; YouTube already led Spotify (31% vs 27%) in Edison's October 2024 data, so the change is a widening lead, not a 2026 overtaking. Report Spotify's 2026 share from Edison directly (the brief gives 21% for Q1 2026) rather than the Inside Radio characterisation. | 3 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [96] |
| AUD-M8-F20 | Inference: DAX US represents Odeeo's US in-game audio (a sellers.json record 'Odeeo US' marked 'DAX US', and Odeeo listed among DAX exclusive publishers), and still lists 'TuneIn US' as an intermediary, so the register's separate Odeeo seller row risks counting the same US inventory twice and TuneIn's unsettled US representation includes a live DAX supply path. | 3, 14 | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [100, 658, 659] |
| AUD-U-F15 | On the pages read, TuneIn's current US ad representation is unsettled: DAX US's About page lists TuneIn as a publisher brand but its current home-page list of exclusive publishers and its May 2026 boilerplate do not, and the iHeartMedia local-sales arrangement is documented only by a 2021 announcement. Because TuneIn's selling role cannot be settled from the record, it is listed, not scored, under the brief's rule for unsettled roles. | 3, appendix | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [27, 28] |
| AUD-C-F14 | Certification does not mean every guideline control is met: the certification reports for Triton Digital (28 February 2025) and SiriusXM (30 April 2025) mark 'Domain threat filtering' as Not Supported, and Podtrac's report (10 July 2026) marks Ad Delivered and Client-Confirmed Ad Play Not Applicable. | 4 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [108, 107, 109, 20] |
| AUD-C-F19 | MRC's Digital Audio Measurement Standards v1.0 (January 2018, with IAB, RAB and NAB COLRAM) cover streaming and progressive-download audio and define a client-side Audible Ad Impression (not muted, non-zero volume, at least two continuous seconds). They call server log files generally not acceptable, and specifically not acceptable in progressive-download environments, while allowing log-based counts such as Downloads or Session Starts where client-side measurement is precluded, as in offline podcast listening. They exclude over-the-air AM/FM and subscription satellite radio. | 4 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [8] |
| AUD-C-F21 | MRC accreditation of the Nielsen Audio PPM service covers monthly and AQH-based audio estimates in 24 named markets (letter of 20 November 2024, updated 18 September 2026), while the MRC lists 22 other PPM markets, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC, as under review rather than accredited. | 4 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [6, 7] |
| AUD-C-F22 | Nielsen's Audio Diary service (Continuous, Condensed and Standard Radio Market Reports, Custom Survey Area Reports and TAPSCAN Web), previously MRC-accredited, entered a six-month accreditation hiatus effective 23 June 2026, during which the MRC treats it as unaudited and unaccredited; Nielsen committed to resume audit by the end of the hiatus. | 4 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [118, 7] |
| AUD-C-F23 | In a blog post dated 20 April 2022 (read via a 4 June 2023 Wayback capture), Triton Digital said it was transitioning its Webcast Metrics away from MRC accreditation because MRC accreditation 'is not provided outside of the U.S. and does not include podcast measurement', and that it was undergoing a SOC2 audit instead; no Triton service appears in the MRC lists read on 28 September 2026. | 4 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [119, 117] |
| AUD-C-F26 | Reporting first published in February 2024 (updated July 2024) attributed download declines to the iOS 17 change. Podnews' table of the ten publishers in the Triton Digital US Podcast Ranker showed their combined average weekly downloads 32.4% lower in January 2024 than in January 2023 (34.7% on a like-for-like basis excluding Soundrise, which had no January 2023 figure). Podtrac data suggested an average 15% drop for most large shows, NPM reported about 10% for daily shows and about 30% for other cadences, and Acast revalued advertising contracts by $7.2 million after a 12% listening slump. | 4 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [121] |
| AUD-C-F29 | On 28 September 2026 AMP's website says the Accords were 'Ratified by twelve operators' but shows nine voting-member logos (BetterHelp, DraftKings, FlightStory, Libsyn, Oxford Road, Podscribe, SiriusXM Media, UTA, Shopify) and fifteen endorsement logos (including Nielsen, Claritas, Magellan AI and Audioboom); Spotify appears in neither group, the Accords download sits behind a personal-data form, and the site text claims no accreditation. | 4 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [130] |
| AUD-C-F30 | According to Oxford Road's 23 July 2026 summary, the AMP Accords define a 'podcast play' as at least 30 consecutive seconds of consumption (audio or video), define an ad impression as any portion of an ad airing, and recommend a randomised hold-out of 5-10% of each platform's audience for incrementality. | 4 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [2] |
| AUD-C-F31 | Edison Podcast Metrics (Edison Research at SSRS) estimates weekly reach of US podcast shows and networks from surveys of weekly podcast consumers aged 13+ who report shows they listened to or watched: 5,163 interviews in Q1 2026 and 5,006 in Q2 2026 (about 20,000 a year). Its published rankers are survey-based. The same company separately sells Edison Download Metrics, download counts run on SoundStack's IAB-certified system, and a combined offer that blends download data with survey findings. | 4 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [123, 124, 125] |
| AUD-M1-F06 | Both SiriusXM listings were last certified 2025-05-15, more than 12 months before the 2 October 2026 cutoff, while the Compliance Guide sets a 12-month recertification interval; the public record shows no active or expired status, so whether the certifications are current cannot be settled from it (as AUD-C-F13 found for eleven listings). | 4 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [15, 20] |
| AUD-PS-F05 | Podscribe's certified counting is its prefix method for downloads; its own methodology page says pixel-based impressions for dynamically inserted ads, triggered by third-party ad providers, 'can include more than one count per download', so a Podscribe impression figure is either a certified prefix download count or an uncertified pixel count, and reports flag which one is used. | 4 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [110, 10] |
| AUD-PS-F06 | Podscribe's marketing stretches the certification beyond its recorded scope: its home page calls it 'the only 3rd-party, IAB-Certified attribution provider', its incrementality page invites buyers to 'Run IAB-certified tests', and its About page says the v2.2 certification ensures 'every download and exposure is counted', whereas the certifier's record covers Download and Listener counting only and the guideline defines no attribution or incrementality metric. | 4, 6 | inference | supported as stated | high | [216, 202, 112, 15] |
| AUD-D-F02 | iHeartMedia's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K (filed 2 March 2026) lists Triton Digital among its acquired ad technology companies and describes Triton's Triton Audio Marketplace as 'an innovative global open audio exchange'; it also lists Voxnest, a podcast programmatic business, and Omny Studios among its ad tech platforms. | 5 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [66, 152] |
| AUD-D-F03 | Spotify's fiscal 2025 Form 20-F (filed 10 February 2026) states that Spotify announced the Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) on 1 April 2025 as a programmatic marketplace for real-time biddable auction buying, and that the Spotify Audience Network sells podcasts from enterprise publishers 'via Megaphone' under agreements that mostly share revenue and can include minimum guarantees. | 5 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [21, 660] |
| AUD-D-F10 | Triton's DSP-integrations page names 41 partners for its Triton Audio Marketplace (not all are DSPs; checked 29 Sep 2026), separate from its '60+ DSP Integrations' marketing claim. | 5 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | high | [152, 154] |
| AUD-D-F12 | Spotify's article on the direct Amazon DSP integration (undated; 2026 by internal reference) says advertisers can buy Spotify music and, for the first time, podcast inventory through Amazon DSP globally; podcasts are available through PMP deals, while the newly added programmatic guaranteed (audio or video) and open auction (video only) apply to music inventory; it names Australia and Japan (audio and video) and India (video) as new markets. | 5 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [158] |
| AUD-D-F13 | IAB Tech Lab's VAST 4.1 (released November 2018) merged the Digital Audio Ad Serving Template (DAAST, created in 2014 as a spin-off of VAST 3.0) back into VAST, adding an optional 'adType' attribute on the Ad element and using 'media player' instead of 'video player'. | 5 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [160] |
| AUD-D-F15 | Triton's public Programmatic Marketplace (formerly 'a2x') buyer terms let each publisher exclude any buyer 'at any time for any reason or no reason' and warn that the highest bid may not always win because sellers can set bidding terms; the public terms contain no fee, take rate or clause giving iHeartMedia's inventory priority. | 5 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [140] |
| AUD-D-F17 | The owned rails' sellers.json files list rival audio sellers as publishers: AdsWizz lists iHeartMedia (iheart.com), Audacy, Cumulus, Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn, PodcastOne, NPR and TuneIn; Triton lists AdsWizz Inc, Audacy, Cumulus, Urban One, Salem, Audioboom, Libsyn, PodcastOne, TuneIn and DAX; Spotify's lists Westwood One, Audioboom and Libsyn; the independent SoundStack also lists Audacy, Cumulus, Acast and 'Amazon/Art19'. | 5 | independent measurement | supported as stated | medium | [101, 142, 143, 102] |
| AUD-D-F21 | Libsyn Ads publishes CPM guidance that differs by insertion and buying method; its current table (23 September 2026) gives $24-26 for 60-second and $18-22 for 30-second baked-in host reads, $18-22 for dynamically inserted new-episode ads (host-read or pre-produced), $14-16 for dynamic back-catalogue ads and $12-15 for programmatic pre-produced ads (30 or 60 seconds), and an overall range of roughly $7-26 per 1,000 downloads or impressions; the older guide page's table assigns $24-26 to baked-in host reads of either length. | 5 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [169] |
| AUD-M2-F12 | The marketplace's DSP documentation is inconsistent on auction, guarantee and VAST: the 2023 specification says inventory is open auction or PMP and 'not guaranteed' on OpenRTB 2.5, while the bid-request page (updated 26 March 2026) says some attributes follow OpenRTB 2.6, carries a deal flag for guaranteed inventory, lists the auction-type field as always '2' (second price plus) and the audio protocols as always [2,3,5,6,9,10] (no VAST 4.x), yet its own example request lists protocols 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (codes 7 and 8 are VAST 4.0 and its wrapper). | 5 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [661, 155, 662] |
| AUD-E-F02 | Spotify Ad Analytics applies default lookback windows by IP type (30 days for household and cable/DSL IPs, 1 day for corporate IPs, 2 hours for cell-tower IPs) and models results for non-household impressions with a multiplier equal to total unique IPs divided by unique household IPs, which the advertiser can switch on or off. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [176, 200] |
| AUD-E-F03 | Spotify Ad Analytics' Conversion Lift report compares a sample of exposed impressions with a control sample of impressions selected by time and geography (country, or state for US impressions); the page describes no randomisation and reports no significance test or confidence interval; it is available in AU, CA, JP, MX and the US for campaigns live at least four weeks with at least 250,000 impressions. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [204] |
| AUD-E-F04 | Podscribe documents household-level IP matching with a 30-day default window (configurable 0-60 days), a Tapad device graph that returns the household IP about 40% of the time for cross-IP conversions (depending on whether hashed emails are collected), and modelling rather than matching for 'noisy' IPs (10 or more user agents on one IP); it says residential IPs usually carry about 50-60% of impressions. Its marketing page separately claims match rates of '85% or higher across channels' using Tapad and Neustar, with no base or period. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | high | [177, 201] |
| AUD-E-F09 | The quotations are accurate. Acast's own Learning Center documents IP pass-through to third-party attribution pixels (an 'acast-ip' macro), the same mechanism the stream codes as 'pixel with IP pass-through' for Triton Digital; its editorial frames promo codes and vanity URLs as complements to pixel attribution. SiriusXM Media's explainer is generic advice ('for example'), while its subsidiary AdsWizz documents AudioPixel. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [186, 203, 515] |
| AUD-E-F10 | iHeartMedia’s AudioGraph (announced 18 June 2026) uses ID-based segments from first-party data and TransUnion data for targeting; its attribution runs through partners (Magellan AI, PlaceIQ, GroundTruth). On 23 September 2026 iHeartMedia described it as available as a managed service across its owned broadcast inventory in the top 50 US markets, with exposure "mapped to IDs" and evaluated through measurement and attribution partners. Magellan AI announced on 30 April 2026 that it ‘will leverage’ iHeartMedia simulcast data for broadcast attribution available only to iHeartMedia advertisers, and its broadcast-attribution page describes market-level modelling. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [190, 191] |
| AUD-E-F15 | AdsWizz's June 2021 report on 600 completed campaigns from 12 US and UK agencies reports 238,022,875 audio impressions and 9,521,850 measured conversion actions (4.0% of impressions), counting actions within 7 days of an audio ad or 1 day of a retargeted display ad, with no unexposed control group; it measures attributed conversions, not incremental effect. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | high | [205] |
| AUD-E-F20 | A cluster-randomised trial in Burkina Faso (7 intervention and 7 control clusters, March 2012 to January 2015) broadcast 1-minute radio spots about ten times a day plus long-format programmes and found no effect on the primary outcome, under-5 mortality (risk ratio 1.00, 95% CI 0.82-1.22), while routine facility data showed increases in under-5 consultations in year 1. | 6 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | high | [222] |
| AUD-E-F21 | A randomised experiment on almost 35 million Pandora listeners (June 2014 to April 2016) found that one additional audio ad per hour reduced mean listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227% (95% CI) and active listening days by 1.911% ± 0.130%, and raised paid ad-free subscriptions; the experiment was run by Pandora and one author is affiliated with Sirius XM Pandora. | 6 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [224] |
| AUD-M2-F07 | Triton's Podcast Attribution 101 documents attribution only as a pass-through: for direct-served campaigns 'up to 8 different tracking pixels per placement', and for direct and programmatic campaigns Triton passes the listener's IP address in the header or through a macro to the advertiser's attribution pixel; it states no match rate, lookback or lift design, and this review found no integrated brand-lift or incrementality function in the TAP or exchange documentation screened. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [175, 663] |
| AUD-PS-F04 | IAB Tech Lab's podcast compliance record lists Podscribe under guidelines v2.2 for the Download and Listener metrics, last certified 8 December 2025; the certificate marks Ad Delivered and Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable' and marks as 'Supported' the filtering controls for pre-load requests, IP threat, domain threat, user agent, 2-byte range and automatically triggered downloads. | 6 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [15, 111] |
| AUD-PS-F10 | Podscribe's Performance Benchmark Report, as reported by Inside Radio on 26 June 2026, gives a median purchase-incrementality lift of 26% for podcast-only campaigns versus 10% for streaming-audio-only campaigns; the matching Q2 2026 report page gives a base of 98K+ campaigns and 34B+ impressions from May 2025 to April 2026, but the report is gated and neither the article nor the page states the incrementality design or how many campaigns had an incrementality read. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | low | [208, 209] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F25 | Megaphone documents three attribution and measurement mechanisms for publishers: an integration with Spotify Ad Analytics (enabled with a service-account key), Megaphone-generated tracking pixels for podcast-to-podcast promotion attribution, and up to five third-party tracking URLs per order or advertisement without double counting of duplicates. | 6 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [664, 174, 665] |
| AUD-K-F26 | Inference: IP-address and household matching used for podcast and streaming-audio attribution handles data that California law treats as personal information about a consumer or household. Where that data is disclosed to a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising, it is 'sharing' and subject to opt-outs and opt-out preference signals; measurement not used for targeting may instead be a sale or a service-provider disclosure, depending on contracts that are not public. The opt-out signal channels regulators name (GPC as a browser or device setting, California's 2027 browser mandate) have no documented path to RSS podcast downloads made through third-party apps. The industry's 2022 guidance says privacy signals reach podcasters only where they have a relationship with the app, which it describes as limited. | 6, 11, 13 | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [225, 226, 227, 228] |
| AUD-E-F14 | IP-based podcast attribution matches households, not people: Spotify says there are no device- or browser-level identifiers in podcasting, Podscribe says only about 50-60% of impressions fall on residential IPs, and Claritas says privacy legislation has degraded the identifiers used in attribution. | 6, 13 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [199, 177, 178] |
| AUD-F-F01 | Dentsu's 2023 audio Attention Economy study with Lumen Research (announced 1 August 2023; podcasts with Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify and SXM Media; radio with Audacy, Cumulus and iHeartMedia; a separate Amazon Ads study on Amazon Music) reported 10,126 attentive seconds per 1,000 impressions for audio ads against dentsu norms of 6,501, correct brand recall of 41% against 38%, and brand choice uplift of 10% against 6%. | 7 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [233] |
| AUD-F-F03 | Sellers that took part in dentsu's 2023 study still cite it three years later without qualification: SiriusXM Media's 21 September 2026 page says audio ads 'outperform benchmarks across video, TV, display, and social by more than 50%', sourced to the 2023 study, although SiriusXM Media's own 2023 note said the benchmarks were those at the time of release; Audacy called the study 'third-party' while saying Audacy 'provided samples of their advertising and programming'. | 7 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [238, 235, 237, 666] |
| AUD-F-F04 | Audacy's podcast-only reading of the dentsu study is weaker than the headline: podcast spots produced 33% average brand recall, which Audacy calls 'in line with visual ads' although the dentsu norm quoted in the joint release is 38%, and a +7% brand choice lift against a +6% norm; radio's uplift was 9%. The joint release says the 41% recall and 10% uplift aggregate includes podcasts, radio and music streaming, while Audacy describes the same aggregate as radio and podcast only; the pooled 10% uplift exceeds both the podcast (7%) and radio (9%) figures, so it cannot be an average of those two alone. | 7 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [236, 237, 233] |
| AUD-F-F05 | Spotify's 2021 Sonic Science study with Neuro-Insight, which Spotify discloses it 'paid and commissioned', reports that advertising on Spotify is 29% more engaging, 20% more memorable and delivers 19% higher brand breakthrough than all other US media (TV, radio, digital audio, digital video and social); Spotify footnotes these figures to a 2021 'Post-SST Survey' with podcast N=316 and music N=273. A separate 2023 US/UK wave with WPP (N=135 and N=132) reports other figures; its funding is not stated on the page. | 7 | commissioned measurement | supported with qualification | high | [240, 239] |
| AUD-F-F06 | Spotify's 'visual attention' claim for audio ads (Spotify ads drive 27% more visual attention than Neuro-Insight's all-media benchmark; 250+ participants, US and Australia, 24 ads) measures occipital-lobe activity that Neuro-Insight interprets as mental imagery, so it is a neural proxy for a visual construct, not a measure of attention to the audio ad. | 7 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [239] |
| AUD-F-F08 | For audio, Adelaide's AU is a predicted placement-quality score: Adelaide says AU 'evaluates thousands of signals to predict attention and subsequent impact' and that for podcasts the exposure inputs are genre, ad position, ad load and ad type, with 'full-funnel outcome data' also feeding the model; no page screened describes observed listening labels for audio. | 7 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [242, 243] |
| AUD-F-F09 | Cumulus Media's Westwood One published Adelaide AU comparisons on 12 August 2024 saying AM/FM radio has 85%, streaming audio 86% and podcasts 94% of linear TV's attentiveness, and that $1,000 of AM/FM ads need $2,635 of Facebook ads for the same attention; as read through a summarising fetch tool (the raw page could not be retrieved), the page gives no sample, period, CPM source or AU method. Westwood One was a launch partner of Adelaide's publisher product for audio (9 May 2024). | 7 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [231, 242] |
| AUD-F-F10 | The Adelaide and NPR podcast analysis (more than 60 shows, 75 million impressions, over 75,000 attributed conversions; initial analysis 2023) found shows with higher AU scores had 30% higher site visitation and up to 19% greater brand lift. National Public Media says the brand-lift and conversion data were 'processed by the AU model', and Adelaide describes AU as outcome-driven; no held-out test is described, so the association cannot be treated as an out-of-sample validation of attention (inference: the pages do not say whether the same outcome data were used to fit the scores). | 7 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [242, 232] |
| AUD-F-F11 | In Sounds Profitable's The Ad Bargain (released 4 April 2024; online survey of 2,020 US adults by Signal Hill Insights, sponsored by eight podcast sellers and advertisers including Wondery, Spreaker, Libsyn Ads, SiriusXM Podcast Network and NPR), 63% said their favourite podcasts' sponsorship messages are less annoying than other ads, and the share who say they 'watch or listen to all of the ads' was 28% for podcasts, 23% radio, 18% streaming TV, 14% TikTok and 10% YouTube. | 7 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [245, 246] |
| AUD-F-F12 | The IAB and MRC Attention Measurement Guidelines, final Version 1.0 (November 2025), bring 'audio-based signals without corresponding visual media' into scope, define attention as whether an ad was 'seen or heard by a person and to what depth', require audibility for audio ads, require neuro and biometric devices to be validated with 'quantifiable error margins', and state attention is not a standalone measure of effectiveness; none of the audio attention claims coded here cites the guidelines or an audit against them. | 7 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [241] |
| AUD-F-F13 | Even in Sounds Profitable's sponsor-funded Ad Nauseam survey (1,011 US weekly podcast listeners, released 12 June 2024), 52% described podcast ads as at least slightly annoying (43% 'slightly annoying but tolerable', 8% 'disruptive and barely tolerable', 1% 'intolerable') against 48% who enjoy or don't mind them; 46% said they always or often skip ads, and 30% said they had stopped listening to a podcast because it had too many ads. | 7 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | medium | [246, 247] |
| AUD-F-F15 | Radio's long-cited 'commercial-friendly' evidence is audience retention, not attention: the Radio Advertising Bureau says radio holds more than 93% of its lead-in audience during commercial breaks, sourced to the 2011 edition of a Nielsen Audio, Media Monitors and Coleman Insights study. | 7 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [251] |
| AUD-F-F16 | Kantar's Media Reactions surveys do not put audio at the top of consumer ad receptivity: the 2021 edition (14,500+ consumers, 23 markets) placed podcast ads 11th in the overall ad equity ranking while calling them the preferred digital ad medium, and found them 'more repetitive' than in 2020; the 2025 US release names The New York Times, Amazon, Apple TV, Netflix and X as top US media brands and says over half of marketers (from a global survey of 974 senior marketers) plan to raise podcast budgets, 'at odds with the consumer preference for OOH, sponsorships, and online publications'. The release gives no podcast or radio rank. | 7 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [248, 249] |
| AUD-F-F17 | Acast's September 2022 claim that 'podcast host reads are now ranked No.1 in KANTAR's global ad equity report (2021)' is only partly matched by Kantar's own 2021 summary, which says podcast ads (not host reads) overtook influencer content as the preferred digital ad medium while ranking 11th in the overall ad equity ranking; the summary does not mention host reads. | 7 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [250, 248] |
| AUD-F-F20 | Other attention and intrusiveness claims screened rest on no cited study or on self-report: iHeartMedia (3 October 2025) says audio reaches people in 'high-attention moments like traffic, sports, and weather updates' with no source for that sentence; Audacy (2023) cites its own Podcast Playbook for 'half of listeners said podcast ads are not intrusive'; and an Edison Research and Consumable forced-exposure test of 2,158 US adults reported that 71% of monthly podcast consumers said the ad held their attention against 62% overall, a comparison of audiences, not formats. | 7 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [252, 236, 253] |
| AUD-G-F01 | The World Federation of Advertisers discontinued the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), whose toolset included the Brand Safety Floor and the Adjacency Standards Framework, on 9 August 2024. | 8 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [259] |
| AUD-G-F03 | GARM's eleven brand-safety categories survive as the eleven 'Sensitive Topics' nodes of IAB Tech Lab's Content Taxonomy 3.1 (dated December 2024 on IAB Tech Lab's version table, open for public comment until 24 January 2025, and revised on GitHub as late as July 2025). The four risk levels (Floor, High, Medium, Low) also survive as labels, in the 'Brand Suitability and Risk' vector of IAB Tech Lab's Content Taxonomy 3.0 Descriptive Vectors file, but IAB Tech Lab's implementation notes (updated August 2025) still define each level only by reference to the GARM and 4A's APB specifications, and no IAB Tech Lab document restating those definitions after GARM's discontinuation was found. | 8 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [262, 263, 267] |
| AUD-G-F04 | Two years after GARM's discontinuation, audio sellers and classifiers still anchor their suitability tiers in GARM: Spotify's 2023 advertiser articles (still live in September 2026) cite GARM's Floor and framework; Triton Digital's Sounder documentation attributes its eleven-category, four-level scheme to an 'IAB Brand Suitability and Risk Framework', which echoes the name of IAB Tech Lab's 'Brand Suitability and Risk' vector, whose levels IAB Tech Lab still defines only by reference to the GARM and 4A's APB specifications; SiriusXM Media's 2025 guide attributes its floor to 'IAB guidelines' but links that phrase to its page on the IAB podcast measurement guidelines; and a Basis and Barometer release (August 2026) cites an 'industry agreed upon framework'. | 8 | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [268, 269, 270, 271] |
| AUD-G-F05 | In the Media Rating Council's accreditation records as displayed on 28 September 2026, no audio or podcast brand-safety or suitability service is accredited or under review: the two accredited content-level brand-safety services cover YouTube in desktop, mobile web, in-app and (for Zefr) CTV environments, the environment key has no audio environment, and the only services-under-review entry naming podcasts or streaming audio is an attention (AU) pre-audit. | 8 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [116, 115, 117] |
| AUD-G-F07 | Comscore's 22 July 2026 release announced Proximic by Comscore integrations with Spotify, SiriusXM, Triton Digital, Acast and Libsyn that let advertisers activate brand-safety solutions and Predictive Audiences from transcript-level, episode-level classifications; despite the headline's 'Measurement', the body describes targeting and brand-safety activation and names no measurement metric, category list, risk levels or accreditation. | 8 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [283] |
| AUD-G-F08 | Barometer, an episode-level podcast suitability classifier, announced or documented integrations with at least eight audio sellers and buying platforms between November 2023 and September 2026, including pre-bid episode targeting live across Acast's inventory (22 January 2026), across the AdsWizz product suite and SiriusXM Podcast Network (24 March 2026), for Spotify Ad Exchange buys on The Trade Desk (live 17 June 2026) and in the Basis DSP (August 2026). | 8 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [274, 275, 276, 271, 277] |
| AUD-G-F10 | Triton Digital owns the Sounder classifier: iHeartMedia launched Sounder-powered episode-level podcast brand safety on 27 February 2023 while a strategic investor in Sounder, Triton announced its acquisition of Sounder on 26 March 2024, and on 20 May 2026 Triton announced expanded availability of Sounder.AI contextual and suitability segments in The Trade Desk; Triton's documentation defines eleven categories at four risk levels (Floor, High, Medium, Low). (iHeartMedia's ownership of Triton must be cited from an iHeartMedia filing, not from this stream.) | 8 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [278, 279, 280, 269] |
| AUD-G-F12 | Spotify documented podcast suitability controls in 2023: Ad Studio sensitive topic filters with four levels (Standard, Partial, Limited, Restricted) plus a per-category Custom setting, and on the Spotify Audience Network a Sensitive Topics control on top of the GARM floor and transcript-based Contextual Topics. | 8 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [268, 287] |
| AUD-G-F13 | Spotify reported in June 2023 that IAS, which Spotify invited to do so, classified a sample of 800,000 monetised podcast episodes from a 12-month period across the 11 GARM categories and all risk levels, using machine learning with random human review, and found less than 1% of Spotify's Originals & Exclusives and Spotify Audience Network content in the sample below the GARM Floor; the result is reported only by Spotify, without IAS's method document, sample dates or uncertainty. | 8 | commissioned measurement | supported with qualification | low | [300] |
| AUD-G-F15 | On 11 June 2026 both IAS and DoubleVerify announced brand safety or suitability measurement for YouTube Audio Ads campaigns (post-bid reporting); neither of those releases covers podcast publishers’ own inventory or claims MRC accreditation for audio. Separately, on 16 June 2026 IAS announced episode-level pre-bid contextual segments for Spotify podcasts, available through The Trade Desk from July 2026; whether they went live was not confirmed. IAS’s digital-audio product page documents only audibility and invalid-traffic measurement on Pandora. | 8 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | high | [296, 297, 298] |
| AUD-G-F16 | Nielsen agreed on 6 August 2026 to acquire DoubleVerify for $13.60 per share in cash (enterprise value about $2.15 billion); the deal was expected to close by the first quarter of 2027, subject to DoubleVerify shareholder approval and regulatory approvals. DoubleVerify’s definitive proxy of 29 September 2026 says the HSR Act waiting period expired on 21 September 2026 and sets the stockholder vote for 29 October 2026, so the deal was pending at the cutoff. | 8 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [301] |
| AUD-G-F17 | Acast documents show-level delivery reporting for advertisers in its campaign analytics dashboard, which lists the podcasts where an ad was served most, with each show's impressions and share of delivered impressions, and gives the full list of podcasts in the downloadable campaign report; separately, its Ad Manager tool, available only to eligible Creator Network partners, lets those partners break reports down by show. The unit in both is IAB-valid delivered impressions (ad deliveries), not listens. | 8 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [304, 305] |
| AUD-G-F18 | In the sources screened, show-level or episode-level reporting of where ads ran is documented for Acast (show grain) and described in general terms for SiriusXM Media's Barometer verification (mid-campaign reporting) and PRX (monitoring through reporting); Amazon DSP's inventory-tier suitability reporting (November 2025) is scoped to Twitch and third-party web and mobile inventory and does not name audio. | 8 | synthesis | supported as stated | low | [290, 277, 295] |
| AUD-G-F21 | Across the audio sellers screened, the named third-party suitability classifiers were Barometer, Sounder (owned by iHeartMedia's Triton Digital) and Proximic by Comscore; none of them appears in MRC's accredited or under-review lists, and the releases describing them state no published accuracy, error rate or independent validation. | 8 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [116, 274] |
| AUD-H-F02 | Audiomob no longer presents itself as an in-game-only seller: its homepage sells audio ads across 'streaming, social media, podcasts, or gaming' apps, and its scale claims (300m monthly active users on the About page; 'more than 500 million monthly users across gaming and non-gaming content' in July 2026) do not separate game inventory, so its in-game audio scale is not disclosed. | 9 | synthesis | supported as stated | high | [309, 334, 320] |
| AUD-H-F04 | TAG's registry shows Audiomob with two seals in the Intermediary category: Brand Safety Certified through independent validation by a third-party auditor, covering global operations, and Certified Against Fraud through self-attestation, covering United States operations only; Audiomob's May 2026 post describes both as renewed certifications without stating that difference. | 9 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [341, 342] |
| AUD-H-F07 | Audiomob's documented third-party buying routes are a partnership announced by Audiomob on 9 July 2026 under which Azerion offers Moments to its advertisers in the US, LATAM, Germany, the Netherlands and other regions, and a Canadian network (Apex Gaming Network) that sells in-game audio it attributes to 'Audiomob/Apex'. Azerion is not only a reseller: it owns Targetspot, whose Targetplay division runs its own in-game and in-app audio SDK, so Azerion both resells Audiomob Moments and sells competing in-game audio supply. | 9 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [320, 322] |
| AUD-H-F18 | Odeeo's own October 2022 integration guide says audio ads have 'minimal adverse impact on retention and playtime' and tells developers to run A/B tests to set ad frequency, which concedes a possible retention cost that its current developer page ('no impact over retention metrics') does not mention; neither page publishes the test results. | 9 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [354, 313] |
| AUD-H-F20 | The Veritonic study published by Audiomob (H1 2025) is a survey of 333 mobile game players (67% women, 32% men, aged 25-65+), described as collected from users who had heard or interacted with Audiomob's ad format and given the opportunity to experience its ads, although 20% of respondents said they had never heard an in-game audio ad. 54% preferred audio ads to video ads, 9% preferred video and 37% had no preference; asked how they respond to in-game audio ads, 42% said they continue playing, 56% that they skip the ad if possible and 2% that they close the game. | 9 | commissioned measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [361, 364] |
| AUD-H-F23 | No in-game audio attention measurement meeting the attention paper's definitions (a named auditory-attention construct, reference labels, validation) was found; the 'attention' evidence offered is listen-through rate, a completion metric at the opportunity-to-hear layer (Odeeo labels a 90.37% LTR 'strong attention'), self-reported recall (the memory layer), or bare assertion (Odeeo's 2023 statement that mobile games have 'as close to 100% of the listener’s attention as possible'). | 9 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [359, 354, 362, 363] |
| AUD-H-F25 | The IAB/IAB Tech Lab/MRC Intrinsic In-Game Measurement Guidelines 2.0 (August 2022) cover display or video in-game placements served with an ad session and do not define an audio ad unit; audio appears only as an encouraged, not required, consideration for video impressions and duration, and interstitials are outside their scope. | 9 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [338] |
| AUD-H-F26 | The IAB Gaming Measurement Framework (June 2025) includes an Audio Ad Metrics Matrix for intrinsic in-game, rewarded and interstitial placements, with baseline metrics of impressions or audible impressions, unique reach, frequency, clicks, audio duration (quartiles, complete plays, average duration, listen-through rate), redemption and conversions, and additional metrics of audio start or play, volume level, frequency, brand lift, skips and offline outcomes. Unlike the display and video matrices, it lists no attention metric. It sets a baseline of metrics to be reported, intended to standardise reporting, but defines no counting rules (for example no volume threshold for an audible impression) and is not an accreditation basis. | 9 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [339] |
| AUD-H-F27 | The only non-vendor retention study of in-game ads found (Burns, Roseboom and Ross, AAAI workshop technical report, 2016; one author employed by the analytics provider DeltaDNA; funding not stated) is observational, covers ads in general rather than audio, and reports a 'weak, insignificant effect' of first-session ad density on three retention proxies (time to second session, total play time, number of sessions), not day-N retention, across 21 free-to-play games (99,620 sampled new users who installed 29 June to 7 July 2016). Under the registered Q4 rule a non-significant observational difference is not evidence of non-inferiority, and the paper itself warns that ad sellers' no-harm claims may reflect selective reporting. | 9 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [355] |
| AUD-U-F22 | Gadsme's audio offer is not documented as a separately sold, live service in the sources read: 'Audio integrations' appears only as one of four in-game formats on its programmatic page, its /audio-ads page returns 404, and the audio format was launched in 2022 with Targetspot's Targetplay division as representation partner; the Gadsme audio record should be listed, not scored. | 9 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [318, 317] |
| AUD-AUDIOMOB-F13 | Audiomob's documented buying routes are direct sales, its own ad system (a sellers.json with 341 records on 29 September 2026, of which 336 PUBLISHER, 3 INTERMEDIARY and 2 BOTH, 207 distinct seller IDs), Bauer Media Audio's audioXi exchange in eight European markets (announced 10 December 2025), Azerion (announced 9 July 2026) and a third-party self-service listing on AllMediaDesk (Germany); a Canadian network, Apex, presents Audiomob's technology as 'Audiomob/Apex' without stating the commercial arrangement; Audiomob announced its own advertiser DSP in March 2021, whose current status is undocumented; this review found no named third-party DSP integration or buyer-facing VAST or OpenRTB audio documentation in the sources screened by the cutoff. | 9 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [324, 325, 326, 322] |
| AUD-AUDIOMOB-F14 | Audiomob’s scale claims are global, undated or period-free, and pool gaming with non-gaming apps: 300m monthly active users, 15b+ monthly bid requests, 1,200 apps and 160 countries (About page), and more than 500 million monthly users with over 15 billion monthly ad requests (9 July 2026); no US figure and no delivered-impression total per period is published. | 9 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [334, 326] |
| AUD-AUDIOMOB-F18 | Audiomob’s Ad Formats page, read on 29 September 2026, still names MOAT among the third-party trackers it uses ("MOAT, IAS, and DCM"), about two years after Oracle retired Moat, while another section of the same page offers Open Measurement tags from IAS, HUMAN or DoubleVerify. | 9 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [307] |
| AUD-ODEEO-F05 | Odeeo announced on 11 March 2026 that its in-game audio inventory is available through Amazon DSP; a third-party buyer that checked its own Amazon DSP account on 17 July 2026 found a single Odeeo deal, a private auction on Magnite DV+, US only and audio only, and no Amazon Ads page naming Odeeo was found. | 9 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [329, 558, 330] |
| AUD-ODEEO-F07 | Odeeo changed from SDK-only in-game audio to a multi-format, partly exchange-supplied platform: in July 2023 it said every ad it sold ran on its directly integrated SDK 'never through an ad buy or arbitrage', but it added display banners to its SDK (4 September 2025), announced Google Authorized Buyer status with real-time bidding access to Google partner inventory (17 April 2026) and access to Unity's exchange supply (22 June 2026, 'As the integration moves forward'), and describes itself in 2026 as selling audio, display, video and native. | 9 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [332, 314, 315, 316] |
| AUD-ODEEO-F13 | Odeeo's scale is stated only as global audience and opportunity counts without periods or definitions: 300M+ monthly active users, 12B+ monthly bid requests and 1000+ games on its About page (300M+ repeated in March and April 2026), against older figures of 140 million MAU and 800+ games on AdsWizz's AudioGo page and company-supplied figures of 15 million daily active users and 100 billion ad requests in 2023; no US or audio-only delivery figure was found. | 9 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [335, 329, 336, 337] |
| AUD-AUDIOMOB-F07 | IAB Tech Lab’s compliance record lists the Audiomob SDK as Open Measurement SDK compliant, status Active, last certified on 3 June 2026 for audio creatives in native ad sessions on Android and iOS (partner version 10.2.3, OM library 1.5.4), with earlier certification dating to June 2023. | 9, 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [15] |
| AUD-ODEEO-F11 | No issuing-body record covers Odeeo's counting: on 29 September 2026 TAG's registry showed Odeeo only 'enrolled in the Verified by TAG program' with no seal, and Odeeo did not appear in IAB UK's Gold Standard directory, MRC's digital accreditation page or any IAB Tech Lab compliance list; its MOAT audibility integration (announced 5 April 2022) lapsed with Moat's end of life on 30 September 2024, yet its advertisers page still displays an 'Oracle MOAT' logo. | 9, 12 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [345, 343, 116, 15, 347, 346, 312] |
| AUD-I-F03 | AdCP v3.1.24 defines two canonical audio creative formats — audio_hosted (a buyer-uploaded file, or a script or brief from which the seller produces host-read or synthesized audio) and audio_daast (a DAAST 1.0 or 1.1 tag) — and an asset_source field whose values distinguish publisher_host_recorded from agent_synthesized audio, plus an IPTC-aligned digital source type enum for declaring AI involvement in a creative. | 10 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [387, 388] |
| AUD-I-F05 | IAB Tech Lab announced AAMP 3.0 on 22 September 2026; its new OpenProposal specification (tag v3.0-draft-1, 24 September 2026) is a draft in public comment until 22 October 2026 whose line-item channel enum includes audio and which carries an audio line-item example, but the draft itself lists as an open question that its format registry has no audio entries. | 10 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [391, 392] |
| AUD-I-F06 | IAB Tech Lab's Seller Agent SDK v2.4.2 (18 August 2026) models audio as an OpenRTB ad format. ARTF v1.0 is a finalised IAB Tech Lab specification released 12 November 2025 (its GitHub release tag v1.0 is dated 20 July 2026); it operates on OpenRTB 2.6 bid requests, which include an audio object, but neither the specification nor its repository mentions audio, so its audio coverage is inherited (inference). | 10 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [393, 521] |
| AUD-I-F07 | On 28 September 2026 AgenticAdvertising.org's public agent registry listed 34 agents; none was operated by a company in this paper's audio universe (Spotify, SiriusXM Media, AdsWizz, iHeartMedia, Triton Digital, Amazon, Audacy, Cumulus, Urban One, Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn, NPM, TuneIn, DAX US, Audiomob, Odeeo, SoundStack, Megaphone, Simplecast, Art19). | 10 | direct record | supported as stated | medium | [3] |
| AUD-I-F09 | The iHeartMedia pilot's performance claims are unaudited vendor assertions: the release says the agentic buy delivered streaming audio '42 percent more efficiently' than the advertiser's direct-buying benchmark and put 48% of podcast impressions in mid-roll versus 33% in the traditional plan; Digiday reports the 42% as a CPM reduction against the client's own direct-buying benchmark. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | low | [397, 398] |
| AUD-I-F11 | Triton Digital (an iHeartMedia subsidiary and AdCP founding member) documents no protocol state above zero in the sources screened: in December 2025 its architecture VP said it had 'a few demo systems in place' and had started building AdCP into its products, and in January 2026 it welcomed the move of the AdCP sales agent to Prebid; neither source documents a connector, test, production use or transaction. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [4, 400] |
| AUD-I-F14 | In the sources screened by 28 September 2026, this review found no documented AdCP or AAMP connector, interoperability test, production use or transaction for SiriusXM Media, AdsWizz, Spotify, Amazon audio, Audacy, Cumulus/Westwood One, Urban One, Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn Ads, LiveOne/PodcastOne, NPM, TuneIn, DAX US, Audiomob, Odeeo, Megaphone, Simplecast, Art19 or SoundStack; iHeartMedia's MCP pilot (F08) is the only documented agentic audio transaction found. | 10 | synthesis | supported with qualification | low | [3, 397] |
| AUD-I-F17 | AdsWizz (SiriusXM) launched Synthetic Voice Ads on its AudioGO self-serve platform for small and mid-sized businesses on 15 February 2024, letting advertisers choose among artificial voices; the release describes no voice consent, disclosure or approval controls. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [367] |
| AUD-I-F19 | Amazon Ads introduced Audio generator on 15 October 2024 in beta for US advertisers buying through Amazon DSP: it writes a voiceover script from an Amazon product page and returns a 30-second interactive audio ad at no additional cost, with the advertiser choosing voice and tone. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [368] |
| AUD-I-F20 | Restate the Instreamatic clause as: generates 'hundreds or thousands of ad variations' by using generative AI to synthesize the original voice actor's voice (a voice clone), which makes the absence of documented actor-consent controls in the release more material. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | low | [372, 373] |
| AUD-I-F21 | iHeartMedia's 'Guaranteed Human' policy, reported by Radio Ink on 1 December 2025 from an internal memo, prohibits AI-generated on-air personalities, synthetic music and podcast content and states that every voice heard on iHeart stations must be human, covering hosted segments, liners and imaging; it is carried in hourly station IDs and allows behind-the-scenes AI tools. Advertising creative is not named, although the reported rule covers every voice heard on air; Radio Ink notes it is unclear how the policy affects iHeart's plans for AI podcast translation. In the sources screened, it is the only such seller commitment found. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [376, 377] |
| AUD-I-F22 | Inception Point AI is the most documented producer of AI-generated podcasts: trade reports give company-sourced figures of over 5,000 shows and over 3,000 episodes a week by September 2025 at $1 or less per episode with programmatic ads attached (profitable at about 20 listens before overhead), and by November 2025 at least 175,000 episodes and 12 million lifetime downloads; Podnews counted more than 8,000 of its shows in the Podcast Index in April 2026. It claimed iHeartRadio as a monetisation partner, which iHeart representatives told TheWrap they did not recognise. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [380, 381] |
| AUD-I-F23 | Podnews reported on 15 April 2026 that the Podcast Index New Feeds Report showed only 44.6% of new shows in the previous 24 hours as 'likely legitimate' and 45.7% as potentially AI-produced, that Podcast Index offers an API listing shows marked as spam, phishing or 'low-effort AI', and that Inception Point AI released 325 new shows in one day, hosted by Spreaker and monitored by Podtrac. | 10 | independent measurement | supported as stated | low | [379] |
| AUD-I-F24 | In the sources screened by the cutoff, this review found no ad seller, ad-tech company or buyer policy that excludes or labels AI-generated podcasts as ad inventory, and no source documenting their effect on inventory quality with data; the major listening platforms do not require AI-creation disclosure for podcasts, according to TheWrap. | 10 | synthesis | supported with qualification | low | [381] |
| AUD-IHEART-F21 | iHeart's Guaranteed Human policy, listed in the 10-K as a 2025 launch, bars AI-generated on-air personalities, synthetic music and AI podcast content, while its Order Terms (09/22/2026) accept advertiser materials made with generative AI, synthetic performers or digital replicas subject to disclosure and consent warranties, so the policy does not exclude AI-made ads. | 10 | inference | supported as stated | medium | [66, 376, 378] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F16 | Spotify Ads Manager offers free AI-generated scripts (up to 500 words) and synthetic voiceovers from Spotify's own text-to-speech service in North American and British accents, exclusive to Ads Manager and unavailable in the API. The US help page documents manual review of each ad by the Ad Review team but, as read through a summarising tool, states no listener-disclosure or voice-consent control. | 10 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [366, 365, 443] |
| AUD-I-F15 | Coded against H6's registered rule at 28 September 2026, the evidence is consistent with 'supported': AdCP v3.1.24 represents audio (state 1) and only one row found, iHeartMedia, has a documented demonstrated transaction (below the three-row threshold). The sources for that transaction name only an MCP server and no agentic advertising protocol, so the public record does not link the transaction to AdCP or AAMP (AdCP itself runs over MCP, so its use is neither shown nor excluded). The essay's July 2026 statement that no public agentic audio campaign existed was overtaken on 20 August 2026. | 10, 13 | inference | supported with qualification | medium | [382, 384, 398] |
| AUD-K-F02 | The Endorsement Guides' own podcast example (255.5, Example 12) says that when a host reads what is obviously a commercial near the start of a podcast, no payment disclosure is needed, but if the wording suggests the host is giving their own views the host must actually hold them, and a separate social-media mention by the same host is assessed on its own. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [405] |
| AUD-K-F05 | Under 255.5(a) an unexpected material connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously when 'a significant minority of the audience' does not understand or expect it, and under 255.1(d) advertisers are liable for endorsers' misleading statements and should guide, monitor and remedy endorsers' compliance. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [405] |
| AUD-K-F06 | The FTC's radio-endorsement case against Google and iHeartMedia (announced 28 November 2022; final consent orders approved 9 February 2023 by a 4-0 vote) concerned nearly 29,000 first-person Pixel 4 endorsements aired in 2019 and 2020 by radio personalities who, the FTC alleged, had not been given Pixel 4s before recording and airing the majority of the ads; separate state judgments required $9.4 million in penalties. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [407, 408] |
| AUD-K-F07 | This review found no FTC case or proceeding in the FTC Legal Library matching 'podcast', 'podcaster' or 'host-read' on 28 September 2026, whereas a search for 'radio endorsement' returned the Google and iHeartMedia matter; in the sources screened by the cutoff, the only FTC enforcement action on audio endorsements found is the radio one. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | medium | [409, 410] |
| AUD-K-F08 | The FCC sponsorship identification rule (47 CFR 73.1212) applies to broadcast stations: a station that airs matter for which consideration is paid must announce at the time of broadcast that it is sponsored and by whom, and for commercial products naming the sponsor or product suffices once per broadcast; the rule's text does not reach podcasts or other non-broadcast audio. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [411] |
| AUD-K-F09 | The FCC’s foreign-government sponsorship rules for leased broadcast time were adopted in the 2021 Report and Order (published 17 June 2021, effective 19 July 2021, compliance required from 15 March 2022); the D.C. Circuit vacated only the requirement to verify lessees against two federal sources on 12 July 2022 (per the FCC); a Second NPRM followed on 17 November 2022; the Second Report and Order (published 16 July 2024) made the then-73.1212(j)(8) (the exemption for candidate ‘uses’, now (j)(9)) and (k) effective 15 August 2024, and its new diligence procedure in 73.1212(j)(3) took effect on 10 June 2025, with compliance for leases deferred to 7 June 2026. For advertisements and paid PSAs covered by the foreign-government rules, the Media Bureau suspended the (j)(3) technical requirements for two years or until further notice (DA 26-526, 26 May 2026). | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [412, 413, 414, 415, 416] |
| AUD-K-F10 | As codified at the cutoff, the foreign-sponsorship disclosure must name the foreign governmental entity and country, be aired at the beginning and end of the programming and at least every sixty minutes for longer programmes, and, where aural, be reduced to writing and placed quarterly in the station's online public file; paragraph (j)(8), added by the FCC's foreign-adversary control rule (FCC 26-2, effective 9 June 2026) and requiring licensees to file lessee disclosures that identify a foreign adversary, is effective but compliance is not required until the FCC announces a compliance date after OMB review. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [411] |
| AUD-K-F11 | The amended COPPA Rule was approved for publication by a 5-0 FTC vote announced on 16 January 2025, published in the Federal Register on 22 April 2025 (90 FR 16918), took effect on 23 June 2025, and required compliance by 22 April 2026, except for three safe-harbor provisions (312.11(d)(1), (d)(4) and (g)). | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [427, 428] |
| AUD-K-F13 | The amended COPPA Rule requires operators to obtain separate verifiable parental consent before disclosing a child's personal information to third parties unless disclosure is integral to the service, while persistent identifiers may be used without consent for 'support for the internal operations', which covers serving contextual advertising and capping ad frequency but not behavioural advertising or profiling. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [429, 428] |
| AUD-K-F17 | California's CCPA defines personal information to cover information reasonably capable of being linked to 'a particular consumer or household', lists IP addresses among identifiers, defines a household as consumers who share a residential address and 'share use of common devices or services', and defines unique identifiers to include device identifiers, IP addresses, pixel tags, mobile ad identifiers and probabilistic identifiers. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [225] |
| AUD-K-F19 | California's regulations (section 7025, in the package listed as effective 1 January 2026) require a business that sells or shares personal information to treat a compliant opt-out preference signal as an opt-out for that browser or device 'and any consumer profile associated with that browser or device, including pseudonymous profiles'. | 11 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [226, 419] |
| AUD-K-F20 | California's Opt Me Out Act (AB 566, Chapter 465, approved 8 October 2025) will, from 1 January 2027, bar a business from developing or maintaining a browser that lacks a consumer-configurable opt-out preference signal. The Act defines a browser as 'an interactive software application that is used by consumers to locate, access, and navigate internet websites', so on its terms it does not reach a podcast app that does not navigate websites (a reading of the text, not a regulator statement). | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [227] |
| AUD-K-F23 | By the IAPP's definition of a comprehensive privacy law, 19 US states had such laws in effect at the cutoff (IAPP chart dated 24 November 2025, latest effective date 1 January 2026), 17 of them flagged by IAPP with a right to opt out of targeted advertising or profiling. A law-firm update (Venable, 30 July 2026) reports four more enacted in the first half of 2026 (Louisiana and Oklahoma effective 1 January 2027, Alabama 1 May 2027, Vermont 1 January 2028), for 23 enacted in total across those two sources. Enactments after 30 July 2026 were not checked. | 11 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [423, 424, 667] |
| AUD-K-F24 | The only state regulator action on streaming opt-outs found by this review that names a company concerns video streaming. California's January 2024 sweep of 'popular streaming apps and devices' (recipients not named; the release's examples are video) led to a $2.75 million settlement with Disney on 11 February 2026 over opt-outs not applied across devices and services. California, Colorado and Connecticut announced a joint Global Privacy Control sweep on 9 September 2025 without naming targets. Whether audio streaming services received sweep letters is not public. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [425, 426, 668] |
| AUD-K-F25 | IAB Tech Lab's July 2022 podcast guidance says podcast measurement mostly represents what the server delivered, that IP addresses are used to filter duplicate downloads, detect non-human traffic and geo-target dynamically inserted ads, and that an IP address combined with other ad-tracking data 'can identify a listener'. It also says podcasters often have no relationship with the listening app, that there is no way to pass information about data processing on to apps and their users, and that privacy-preference signals reach podcasters only in the limited cases where a podcaster has a relationship with the app. | 11 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [228] |
| AUD-K-F28 | The federal NO FAKES Act of 2025 (S. 1367 and H.R. 2794, introduced on 9 April 2025) had no recorded action beyond introduction and referral. Its successor, the NO FAKES Act of 2026 (S. 4591, introduced 20 May 2026), was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee with a substitute amendment on 24 June 2026 and placed on the Senate calendar, with no later action by the cutoff. Both would create a right in a person’s voice and visual likeness; neither is law. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [432, 433] |
| AUD-K-F31 | The FCC’s July 2024 proposal on AI in political ads (NPRM FCC 24-74, MB Docket 24-211, published 5 August 2024) would require radio and TV broadcasters, cable and DBS operators and satellite radio (SDARS) licensees engaged in origination programming to air an on-air disclosure for political ads containing AI-generated content. An FCC order extended the comment deadline to 19 September 2024 and replies to 11 October 2024; the docket lists no termination and the Federal Register holds no later document in it as of 30 September 2026, so no final rule has been published. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [437] |
| AUD-K-F32 | New York's synthetic-performer advertising law (S8420-A, Chapter 617, signed 11 December 2025, in force from 9 June 2026) requires a conspicuous disclosure when the person producing an ad has actual knowledge that it contains a synthetic performer. It defines the performer by an 'audiovisual and/or visual performance' and exempts 'audio advertisements' and the media publishers that disseminate ads. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [374, 375] |
| AUD-K-F33 | In the EU, the AI Act’s transparency obligations started to apply on 2 August 2026: deepfakes, which the Commission says include audio edited or generated with AI, must be labelled, and AI-generated or altered content must carry machine-readable marks. Under the AI Omnibus, in force from 27 July 2026, providers of generative systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026 must meet the marking duty only from 2 December 2026, according to the Commission’s FAQ; deepfake labelling has no such delay. | 11 | direct record | supported with qualification | medium | [440, 441] |
| AUD-M4-F11 | Cumulus sells local spot through its own staff, national spot through its internal team and Katz Media Group, and network inventory on owned and affiliated stations through its internal US sales team; its podcasts carry prerecorded and host-read ads, and its streaming network of station simulcasts carries 'either digital ad-inserted or simulcasted ads' monetized through local, national, network and programmatic channels. | 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [38, 81] |
| AUD-M4-F22 | Townsquare owned and operated 340 radio stations in 74 local markets at 9 March 2026, all outside the top 50, and names Nielsen as the radio industry's principal ratings service, with a remaining fixed obligation to Nielsen of about USD 14.3 million through June 2028; none of the 74 markets it lists appears in the MRC's list of 24 accredited PPM markets, two are marked not rated, and four (Killeen-Temple, Odessa-Midland, Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester, Trenton) are named in the MRC's record as previously unaccredited diary markets, while the Nielsen diary service as a whole has been in an MRC accreditation hiatus since 23 June 2026. | 12 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [70, 6, 118] |
| AUD-M5-F10 | Beasley moved its podcasts and on-demand shows to Amazon's ART19 (announced 4 September 2025); the WMMR Preston & Steve feed is served from rss.art19.com under the copyright '93.3 WMMR - Beasley Media Group, LLC', and ART19 is on IAB Tech Lab's podcast compliance list for guideline v2.2 covering Download, Listener, Ad Delivery and Client-Confirmed Ad Play, last certified 10 February 2026. | 12 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [444, 445, 15] |
| AUD-M5-F15 | Sigma Audio Networks, launched on 20 January 2026 as the national sales arm for WBLS, HOT 97, the Estrella Network, Que Buena Los Angeles and the Don Cheto Radio Network, is not a MediaCo subsidiary: MediaCo holds an equity-method investment in it, and eMedia manages and controls its significant operating activities; Sigma's InterWave digital audio network (March 2026) claims access to 'upward of 210 million monthly unique listeners' across third-party digital audio without naming its supply. | 12 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [90, 450, 511, 669, 670] |
| AUD-M5-F23 | None of Saga, Beasley, MediaCo (or Estrella) and Salem appears on IAB Tech Lab's podcast measurement compliance list read on 29 September 2026 (34 companies, all certified to guideline v2.2), and none is on MRC's radio, under-review or digital lists; where their podcasts or ratings are certified, the certified system belongs to a third party (ART19, Omny Studio, Podtrac, Nielsen). | 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [117, 15] |
| AUD-M5-F25 | This review found no documented brand-safety or suitability control (episode-level classification, show or station block lists, suitability tiers, or an integrated third-party verifier) offered by Saga, Beasley, MediaCo or Salem in the filings, corporate and sales pages, sellers.json and ads.txt files and web searches screened by 29 September 2026. | 12 | inference | supported as stated | medium | [454, 198] |
| AUD-AMAZON-F16 | This review found no Amazon-published US audience, impression or download figure for Amazon's ad-supported audio inventory (Amazon Music free tier, Alexa, Wondery or PAN) in the sources screened by the cutoff, and Amazon's filings do not mention audio. | 12 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [457, 194] |
| AUD-IHEART-F23 | iHeartMedia launched episode-level podcast brand safety powered by Sounder on 27 February 2023, describing it as third-party verification while it was a strategic investor in Sounder; after Triton Digital announced its acquisition of Sounder on 26 March 2024, the classifier is owned by iHeart's own group. | 12 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [278, 279] |
| AUD-IHEART-F24 | This review found no live self-serve buying interface on iHeart's own domains on 29 September 2026: the iHeart AdBuilder domain returned HTTP 404 with an expired certificate over HTTPS and redirected over HTTP to a lead form at iheartmedia.com/advertise. | 12 | independent measurement | supported with qualification | medium | [455, 456] |
| AUD-SIRIUSXM-F07 | SiriusXM Media says it has been SoundCloud's exclusive US advertising representative since 2019 while SoundCloud remains a separate company, and pandora.com/sellers.json lists SoundCloud as a PUBLISHER alongside Pandora. | 12 | synthesis | supported as stated | high | [447, 151] |
| AUD-SIRIUSXM-F08 | IAB Tech Lab's compliance record lists AdsWizz (Ad Delivery) and Simplecast (Download, Listener) as certified to podcast guideline v2.2, last certified 15 May 2025, both linking one report issued to Sirius XM Holdings Inc. dated 30 April 2025; the report marks Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable' and domain threat filtering 'Not Supported', and names no product, inventory or geography. | 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [15, 107] |
| AUD-SIRIUSXM-F17 | SiriusXM Media's own buying routes are Direct IO and programmatic through the buyer's DSP, with end-of-campaign reporting; its self-serve route is AudioGO, an AdsWizz product, and no SiriusXM Media reporting portal or public API was found. | 12 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [448, 449] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F01 | Spotify Technology S.A. reports annually on Form 20-F (fiscal 2025 filed 10 February 2026) and quarterly on Form 6-K (Q1 2026 on 28 April 2026, Q2 2026 on 4 August 2026); it is listed on the NYSE as SPOT and names Spotify USA Inc. as its US operating company. | 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [446, 21] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F09 | IAB Tech Lab's podcast compliance record, read on 29 September 2026, lists Megaphone (guidelines v2.2; Download, Ad Delivery, Listener; last certified 12 November 2025) and no listing named Spotify, Spotify for Creators or Spotify Advertising. Megaphone's report, dated 30 September 2025 and issued to Spotify USA Inc., marks all five bot and bogus-request filters Supported and Client-Confirmed Ad Play Not Applicable. Neither the MRC's digital nor its multimedia accreditation list names a Spotify or Megaphone service. | 12 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [15, 453, 116] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F14 | Spotify Ad Analytics, which is free and measures all Spotify direct-sold media, uses IP address as its primary identifier. It filters for household IPs with a device graph covering Australia, Canada, Mexico and the US, reports a 40-80% match rate that varies by campaign, credits conversions linearly, and models unmatched impressions with a multiplier (total unique IPs divided by household IPs) that advertisers can switch off. It is not integrated with Ad Studio, the self-serve platform now called Ads Manager. | 12 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | high | [176, 199, 470] |
| AUD-A-F18 | In IAB Australia's survey of 128 buy-side respondents (95% agencies; November-December 2025), the three biggest issues stopping audio and podcast advertising from taking a larger share were evidence of effectiveness (40%), measurement and tracking (33%) and cost (24%), followed by understanding of audio advertising (19%); measurement leads the coded distribution, and cost rose 10 points year on year. | 13 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [463] |
| AUD-A-F21 | Other US buy-side surveys screened for Q1 yielded no codable audio constraint item inside the window: the Cumulus-commissioned Advertiser Perceptions wave of June 2026 (n=300) reports consideration and intent only; IAB's 2026 Outlook (200+ buyers) reports market-wide investment challenges not specific to audio; and the Digiday/Sounds Profitable survey of 293 buyers, which covered reasons for not buying podcast ads (headline: lack of client or brand interest and budget constraints), was fielded in May-June 2023, before the window. | 13 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [464, 671, 465] |
| AUD-A-F17 | An Amazon Ads and EMARKETER survey of 100 marketers, fielded in November 2025 (described as worldwide in EMARKETER’s methodology note and as US marketers on the report page), asked, as a seller’s blog reports it, “What challenges prevent greater investment in digital audio at your organization?”; 55% cited difficulty measuring ROI, 39% budget and 36% a perception that audio is less effective. The survey was run with Amazon Ads, an audio seller. | 13, 14 | commissioned measurement | supported with qualification | low | [458, 461, 460] |
| AUD-U-F11 | Cumulus Media had not reported emergence from its prepackaged Chapter 11 in any filing listed on EDGAR by 28 September 2026; its latest listed 8-K (14 August 2026) is an earnings filing (item 2.02), and its 10-K lists emergence, including Bankruptcy Court and FCC approvals, as a risk. | 14 | direct record | supported as stated | medium | [38, 84] |
| AUD-U-F06 | Triton documents TAP as a server-side insertion and trafficking platform for broadcasters, streamers and podcast publishers, and separately a programmatic audio marketplace sold to buyers under a buying agreement with Ando Media, LLC d.b.a. Triton Digital; the buyer terms call it 'Triton's Programmatic Marketplace (formerly "a2x")', and its identity with the product page's 'Triton Audio Marketplace' is inferred from matching descriptions, not stated. Splitting TAP and the marketplace into two cohort B rows is an inference. | 14, appendix | synthesis | supported with qualification | high | [26, 140, 153] |
| AUD-M2-F01 | iHeartMedia's FY2025 Form 10-K exhibit list names Triton Digital, Inc. (Delaware), Ando Media, LLC (Delaware), Jelli, LLC (Delaware), Manadge (France) and 121cast Pty Ltd (dba Omny) (Australia) among iHeartMedia, Inc.'s subsidiaries, and Triton's Terms of Use (effective 21 October 2025) state that Triton's sites and services are owned or managed by Ando Media, LLC dba Triton Digital and/or Triton Digital Canada, Inc., 'both of which are subsidiaries of iHeartMedia, Inc.' | abstract | direct record | supported as stated | high | [281, 672] |
| AUD-A-F02 | IAB/PwC put US podcast advertising revenue at $2,862.2 million in 2025, up 17.6% from $2,433.1 million in 2024, on what the report calls 'the traditional, audio-based definition' of a podcast. | abstract, 1, 2 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [9] |
| AUD-C-F02 | The final v2.2 text defines exactly four metrics in section 6 (Download, Listener, Ad Delivered, Client-Confirmed Ad Play); section 6.4 defines no new metric but covers publisher-, show- and episode-level roll-ups and listener-ID-based audience building, and sections 5.1 and 5.4.5 let providers report additional, undefined metrics provided they are labelled separately from the core IAB metrics. | abstract, 1, 4 | direct record | supported with qualification | high | [10] |
| AUD-C-F11 | IAB Tech Lab's public podcast compliance record lists 34 companies on 28 September 2026, all certified against guidelines v2.2: 33 for Download, 33 for Listener, 17 for Ad Delivery and 4 (ART19, Audiomeans, Audion, SoundStack) for Client-Confirmed Ad Play; no listed metric measures listening time, attention or outcomes. | abstract, 1, 4 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [15] |
| AUD-A-F01 | IAB/PwC put US internet audio advertising revenue at $8.4 billion in 2025, up 10.2% from $7.6 billion in 2024, which is 2.8% of $294.6 billion total US internet advertising revenue; the audio format covers podcasts, streaming music and streaming radio. | abstract, 2 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [9, 46] |
| AUD-A-F09 | BIA's September 2026 local forecast, as reported by Radio Ink, puts US local over-the-air radio advertising at $9.79 billion in 2026 (+1.6% on 2025) and local digital radio at $2.41 billion (+0.8%); without political spending, over-the-air falls 1.3% to $9.49 billion and digital radio 2.1% to $2.34 billion. Radio is 6.5% of BIA's $186.1 billion 2026 local total. | abstract, 2 | forecast | supported as stated | medium | [50, 51] |
| AUD-A-F12 | This review found no current public level estimate of total US radio advertising that includes national spot and network radio, in the sources screened by 28 September 2026: BIA's forecast is local only, EMARKETER's radio forecast could not be opened, PwC's Global Entertainment & Media Outlook was not opened (the IAB/PwC report quotes only its +1.3% 2025 growth for music, radio and podcast advertising, without a level or stated geography), and an Omnicom Media spokesperson confirmed in January 2026 that Magna's December 2025 posting was the last of Interpublic's public ad forecasts. | abstract, 2, 14 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [60, 51, 48] |
| AUD-B-F11 | iHeartMedia's podcast revenue was USD 563.7 million in 2025, up 25.6% from USD 448.8 million (USD 407.8 million in 2023), within a Digital Audio Group of USD 1,329.4 million; Broadcast Radio revenue fell 5.4% to USD 1,633.4 million and Networks rose 0.6% to USD 439.8 million. | abstract, 3 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [66] |
| AUD-B-F28 | No market-wide concentration ratio for US audio or podcast advertising can be built from the filings screened: Spotify reports Ad-Supported revenue globally with display and video included, SiriusXM does not split podcast revenue out of Pandora and Off-platform, Cumulus folds podcasts into Digital, Acast reports North America in SEK without a US split, PodcastOne's fiscal year ends in March, and Audacy and Salem no longer file periodic reports. | abstract, 3 | synthesis | supported as stated | high | [21, 34, 38, 76, 77] |
| AUD-C-F20 | In the MRC's own accreditation lists read on 28 September 2026 (radio, digital, multimedia, outside the US, and services under review), this review found no accredited or in-process podcast or streaming-audio measurement service; the only audio-related in-process entry is Adelaide's AU attention metric, whose channels include 'Audio - Podcasts, Streaming Audio, Terrestrial Audio', listed as 'Pre-audit reviewed 5/2026, Audit not begun'. | abstract, 4, 7, 13 | direct record | supported as stated | medium | [115, 117] |
| AUD-C-F12 | H2 (certified scope): the certifier's public record states certified scope only as a guideline version and a list of counting metrics per company; it names no product, inventory, environment or geography, and one report (issued to Sirius XM Holdings, dated 30 April 2025) serves both the AdsWizz (Ad Delivery) and Simplecast (Download, Listener) listings. No certified scope includes an attention or outcome metric, so the certified-scope part of H2 is coded 'supported'. | abstract, 4, 13 | inference | supported as stated | high | [15, 107] |
| AUD-C-F13 | Eleven of the 34 companies in the public record (AdsWizz, Captivate, CoHost, Omny Studio, PRX, Podigee, Simplecast, Spreaker, Triton Digital, Voxnest Audience Network, Zeno Media) show a last-certified date more than 12 months before 28 September 2026, the recertification interval the Compliance Guide sets; the public page shows no status, so whether these certifications are active or expired cannot be settled from it. | abstract, 4, 14 | inference | supported as stated | medium | [15, 20] |
| AUD-D-F01 | Sirius XM Holdings' fiscal 2025 Form 10-K (filed 5 February 2026) states that AdsWizz is its subsidiary within the Pandora and Off-platform business, that AdsWizz technology is used by Pandora and by third-party customers, and that AdsWizz, through its Simplecast business, offers podcast hosting, analytics and advertising sales. | abstract, 5 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [34] |
| AUD-D-F11 | Megaphone's help page (updated 15 July 2026) says Megaphone publishers can sell non-guaranteed PMP deals, in a first-price auction, to DSPs that at launch include The Trade Desk, DV360, Yahoo and Amazon and more than 40 DSPs under Magnite's SSP (including StackAdapt and Viant); the deals run after guaranteed campaigns, compete 'alongside the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN) in an auction' on highest gross bid above a publisher-set floor with no minimum or maximum, and can deliver only in SPAN-enabled shows. Spotify's October 2025 release says these deals are booked via the Spotify Ad Exchange. | abstract, 5 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | high | [11, 141] |
| AUD-SPOTIFY-F23 | Spotify bought Megaphone LLC on 8 December 2020 for EUR 195 million, and Podsights and Chartable in February 2022 for EUR 83 million combined. It merged Podsights into Spotify Ad Analytics in June 2023 (as reported by Podnews) and announced Chartable's closure on 27 September 2024 'as part of a re-focus', moving SmartLinks and SmartPromos into Megaphone. These are acquisitions, a rebrand and a product retirement with feature migration, not evidence that the measurement approach failed. | abstract, 5 | synthesis | supported as stated | high | [131, 92, 29, 174] |
| AUD-D-F20 | This review found no published fee, take rate or rail-level price difference for AdsWizz, Triton Digital, Spotify Ad Exchange or Megaphone in the sources screened by the cutoff; the closest disclosures are Spotify's statement that most publisher agreements share revenue and can include minimum guarantees (no rate given) and AdsWizz's statement that publishers can 'apply different prices for each sales channel or deal'. | abstract, 5, 13 | synthesis | supported as stated | medium | [21, 165, 140, 11] |
| AUD-D-F09 | On the registered pooled count, the three owners' rails are 15 of the 43 audio supply integrations named in the public documentation of five DSPs (35%), which meets H5's 'contradicted' condition for the ownership part. Leaving out The Trade Desk's directory, which mixes publishers and rails, gives 9 of 17 (53%); that is a sensitivity test, not the registered result. These are counts of named integrations, not of spend. | abstract, 5, 13, 14 | inference | supported as stated | medium | [132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139] |
| AUD-E-F01 | Spotify Ad Analytics documents IP address as its primary identifier and filters for household IP addresses, using a Tapad-powered device graph covering Australia, Canada, Mexico and the US that it says generally matches 40-80% (campaign-dependent). | abstract, 6 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | high | [176, 199] |
| AUD-E-F13 | None of the coded H3 sample products documents confidence intervals or other uncertainty for attribution results in the pages opened; de-duplication is mentioned only by Magellan AI (de-duplicated audiences for reach) and Megaphone (no double counting of duplicate tracking URLs); Spotify Ad Analytics and Podscribe document modelling of unmatched impressions. The sample is 16 distinct products, not 17, because ArtsAI is part of Claritas. | abstract, 6 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [204, 179, 200, 177] |
| AUD-NFA-F01 | Under the registered H3 rule, applied in review round 3 to every measurement-table product with an attribution function and every scored row whose own documentation describes one (23 products), IP-address, household or pixel matching is the documented primary attribution method in 11 of the 12 products that document one (91.7%), and in 11 of 19 (57.9%) when the 7 products without a documented method are added; 4 products list several methods without a default and are reported apart (adding them gives 47.8%, a sensitivity only). | abstract, 6, 11, 13 | synthesis | supported with qualification | low | [176, 177, 207, 178, 174, 179, 180, 175, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189] |
| AUD-PS-F09 | Podscribe documents three incrementality designs: a synthetic control built from similar listeners (the default), randomised ghost or PSA holdouts through SmartServe for dynamically inserted ads (a priced add-on, $0.50 CPM on the list price page), and publisher-created holdouts. It estimates that about two-thirds of publishers accept SmartServe for all buys (blog and release of 18 May 2026). Its help centre says a SmartServe holdout is made by marking listeners' IPs as control and that SmartServe prioritises a mobile ad ID over the IP when one is present (about half of streaming impressions), so for podcast buys the 'user-level' randomisation unit is in practice an IP address. | abstract, 6, 13 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [1, 217, 218] |
| AUD-E-F18 | This review found no independent causal test (randomised, holdout or geo experiment, published with design and results, funded by a party without a financial interest) of commercial audio advertising on advertiser outcomes, in the sources screened by the cutoff, which did not include a systematic academic database search. It found three academic randomised field experiments of non-commercial radio messages; one (Sarrassat et al. 2018) states funders without a financial interest, though four of its authors are the CEO and employees of the organisation that ran the campaign. | abstract, 6, 13, 14 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [220, 221, 222] |
| AUD-F-F02 | The attention figure in dentsu's 2023 audio study is a model estimate, not an observation of listening: Lumen 'modeled an attention score which is equivalent to that based on visual attention' from passive listening data, survey results and type of ad exposure, and the releases screened publish no reference labels for auditory attention, no validation and no sampling error. | abstract, 7 | inference | supported as stated | medium | [233, 234, 235] |
| AUD-F-F14 | The strongest-design evidence found on the cost of audio ads to listeners is Pandora's randomised ad-load experiment (almost 35 million listeners, June 2014 to April 2016): one additional ad per hour reduced mean listening time by 2.082% ± 0.227% and active listening days by 1.911% ± 0.130% (95% intervals), and higher ad load increased paid ad-free subscriptions; it has no other-format comparator, so it neither supports nor contradicts a claim that audio ads are less intrusive than other formats. | abstract, 7, 13 | commissioned measurement | supported as stated | high | [254] |
| AUD-F-F21 | Coded under Q4's registered rule, all 19 audio attention, memory and intrusiveness claims in this stream's coding table are 'insufficient evidence'; the table does not include every such claim on the pages screened (at least four more were seen), and those would code the same way on the evidence shown. This review found no independent study with published design and results comparing attention to, or intrusiveness of, audio ads with other formats, in the sources screened by the cutoff. | abstract, 7, 13, 14 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [233, 239, 245, 232] |
| AUD-H-F17 | Every public retention claim for in-game audio found in this review is coded 'insufficient evidence' under the registered Q4 rule: Audiomob ('0% retention damage'), Odeeo ('no impact over retention metrics') and their developer case studies state no assignment method, control condition, retention window, sample size, confidence interval or control-group retention rate, so non-inferiority at δ = 1.0 percentage point (day-7) cannot be assessed. | abstract, 9, 13, 14 | synthesis | supported as stated | high | [308, 348, 313, 351, 352] |
| AUD-I-F18 | SiriusXM Media announced on 17 June 2025 AI voice replicas from Narrativ in its AdMaker self-service tool, with documented consent controls: voice actors opt in, are paid for licensing, can approve or reject every ad using their replica, and each ad needs approval from both voice actor and advertiser; a SiriusXM spokesperson said the technology was in beta testing. | abstract, 10 | vendor assertion | supported as stated | medium | [370, 371] |
| AUD-I-F01 | AdCP v3.1.24, the latest non-prerelease version on 28 September 2026 (released 23 September 2026), represents audio inventory in its published schema: its Media Channel enum includes radio, streaming_audio and podcast, and its Property Type enum includes podcast, radio and streaming_audio (shared rule 12, state 1: schema representation). | abstract, 10, 13 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [383, 384, 385] |
| AUD-I-F08 | iHeartMedia is the only company in the audio universe with a documented demonstrated transaction by AI agents: Butler/Till and iHeartMedia announced on 20 August 2026 a completed four-week pilot (July-August 2026) in which paired buyer and seller agents, one built by each company and connected through an MCP server, bought just under $10,000 of iHeart streaming audio and podcast inventory directly for an unnamed US agricultural client; no agentic advertising protocol (AdCP or AAMP) is named in either source. | abstract, 10, 13 | vendor assertion | supported with qualification | medium | [397, 398] |
| AUD-C-F10 | IAB Tech Lab podcast certification is a voluntary, global programme run through IAB-approved third-party auditors in an iterative process the guide calls 'generally not a pass or fail' (about 60 days); certified companies must recertify at least every 12 months or their status changes to 'expired', and IAB Tech Lab publishes a report marking each guideline item supported or not. | abstract, 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [20] |
| AUD-ACAST-F09 | IAB Tech Lab's podcast compliance record lists Acast as certified against guidelines v2.2 for Download, Listener and Ad Delivery, last certified 18 February 2026; its certification report marks Client-Confirmed Ad Play 'Not Applicable' and domain threat filtering 'Not Supported'. | abstract, 12 | direct record | supported as stated | high | [15, 451] |
| AUD-A-F19 | Across the two buyer surveys that could be coded (100 marketers, geography unclear, item list and question wording known from secondary reports; Australia, n=128), measurement is the leading class in both, whether classes are compared by their largest item or by summed item shares, and narrative leads neither; under the registered Q1 rule, the playbook’s claim that the buyer narrative is the bottleneck is not consistent with these two sources. | abstract, 13, 14 | synthesis | supported with qualification | medium | [461, 463] |
| AUD-U-F24 | Simplecast is operated by Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast (SiriusXM, through AdsWizz); its monetisation tools are AdsWizz products resold under a sublicensing and reseller relationship, so a Simplecast row can be scored only on hosting and analytics it documents itself, not on AdsWizz's insertion or marketplace. | appendix | direct record | supported as stated | high | [25, 34] |

### Interests

The author has worked at Samba, a TV measurement and ad data company, since May 2025. He co-leads the Signals & Measurement working group of AgenticAdvertising.org, which publishes the AdCP agentic advertising protocol, and co-filed the group's radio measurement-parity work. No Fluff Advisory, his own practice, is an AgenticAdvertising.org member, and two agents in the public registry that chapter 10 counts, one for signals and one for sales, are registered under that membership; neither is an audio agent, and neither bears on any audio row [3]. Triton Digital, whose services are scored in cohort B, is an AdCP founding member. Spotify, scored and profiled, lists Samba among the measurement companies it integrates with directly [5]. Earlier he worked at Verve Group, Hearts & Science and Lotame. Membership, support or a working-group role earns no score and no protocol state. No vendor funded, reviewed or saw the paper before publication. Every vendor is scored under the same published rules.



## Appendix: data, register and rebuild


*The files that come with this paper, what each one holds, and how to rebuild the paper from them. The study table is in chapter 6, and the numbered source list follows as its own section.*

### Data downloads

The build writes every file below from the evidence records.

- `audio-advertising-2026.pdf` — the print edition: A4, with page numbers and chapter bookmarks
- `audio-advertising-2026.md` — the reading edition in Markdown, with numbered references
- `data/source-register.csv` — every source with publication, event and access dates, type, geography, funding, access limits and reliability notes
- `data/claim-ledger.csv` — every material claim with sources, passage locator, scope, evidence class, review outcome, confidence and final wording
- `data/capability-matrix-wide.csv` — vendors × dimensions, scores only (0–5, n/e, n/a)
- `data/capability-matrix-long.csv` — one row per cell with availability, evidence grade, date, rationale and sources
- `data/capability-dimensions.csv` — the dimension definitions and anchors
- `data/lq.csv` — Listen Quotient per vendor: group means, coverage, band, the reweightings and every dimension score
- `data/lq-method.csv` — LQ groups, weights, shrinkage, field mean, band thresholds, and the reweighting, shrinkage and missing-evidence tests
- `data/lq-missing-evidence.csv` — every scored cell turned into n/e one at a time, with the LQ before and after
- `data/swot.csv` — every SWOT line for the profiled vendors with its basis (record, vendor documentation, vendor claim, inference) and sources
- `data/deep-profiles.csv` — the deep-profile summaries: what is sold, buyers, earnings, dependencies, fit, limits
- `data/deep-profile-records.csv` — every profiled capability, performance claim, financial figure and timeline event with sources
- `data/study-evidence.csv` — studies with design, sample, sponsor and limits
- `data/corrections-ledger.csv` — every change made after verification and challenge passes, with implementation and verification
- `data/vendor-universe.csv` — the reasoned vendor sample with scope group, owner, formats, routes and status
- `data/agentic-map.csv` — AI and agentic capabilities with status labels and observability
- `data/rules.csv` — rules and governance instruments by jurisdiction
- `data/estimates.csv` — market-size estimates with inclusions, exclusions and combinability
- `data/product-register.csv` — the product register: every scored or listed product with its purchased service, operating entity, owner, cohort, inclusion reason, aliases and US availability
- `data/hypotheses.csv` — the hypotheses registered before extraction, with the rules for supported, contradicted and unresolved
- `data/figure-data.json` — the canonical dataset behind every data figure
- `data/derived-checks.json` — every derived number with its formula and inputs
- `data/stats.json` — every count the prose and figures quote about the research itself, computed from the ledgers
- `data/second-pass.csv` — the blind second scoring pass: one row per re-scored cell with both passes’ scores, grades and reasons, and the adjudication of each material disagreement
- `data/second-pass.json` — the same cells with both passes’ sources, each re-scored row’s band under both passes, and the agreement statistics’ inputs
- `data/scoring-rules.json` — dimension definitions, anchors, cell rules and the LQ definition, fixed before scoring

### What the data files hold

`data/hypotheses.csv` holds the 6 starting claims as registered on 28 September 2026, before extraction. Q1 and Q4 are questions; the rest are hypotheses. Each row gives the statement, sample, comparator, outcome and the rules for each verdict, which chapter 13 applies.

`data/product-register.csv` lists all 83 products the vendor-universe sweep classified, with the purchased service, operating entity, owner, cohort, inclusion reason, aliases and US availability. Of these, 24 are audio inventory sellers, 10 are audio ad technology, 47 are listed and 2 are historical. Some decisions rest on inference. Spotify Ad Exchange is an alias of the Spotify Advertising row, read as a buying route into Spotify-owned inventory and shows enabled for the Spotify Audience Network; the publisher-side private-marketplace function is scored on the Megaphone row, and the classification is an inference [21, 22, 11]. AdsWizz and Triton Digital each appear as two ad-technology rows, a publisher platform and a marketplace sold to buyers; that split is also an inference [24, 469, 26, 140]. Simplecast is scored only on the hosting and analytics it documents itself, since its monetisation tools are AdsWizz products it resells [25]. TuneIn is listed, because the record does not settle who sells its US inventory [27, 28].

`capability-matrix-wide.csv` gives one score per product and dimension (0 to 5, n/e or n/a). `capability-matrix-long.csv` has one row for each of the 408 cells, with evidence grade, date, verification status, reason and sources. `capability-dimensions.csv` gives the 12 definitions and their anchors.

`lq.csv` has one row per scored product. It gives the Listen Quotient (LQ), its offset from the cohort's field mean, the band, coverage, the group means, the reweighted quotients, the scenarios that fill n/e cells with 1 and then 4, and every dimension score. Bands hold within a cohort only; a seller's LQ is never ranked against an ad-technology row. `lq-method.csv` sets out the weights, the prior strength of 4, the band lines and the outcome of each sensitivity test. `lq-missing-evidence.csv` turns each counted cell into n/e in turn, 242 seller cells and 107 ad-technology cells, with the LQ and band before and after.

`source-register.csv` lists all 993 sources with dates, type, geography, period, funding and access limits. `claim-ledger.csv` holds 641 claims, each with its sources, supporting passage, evidence class, review outcome and final wording, which the paper uses where a verifier qualified a claim. `corrections-ledger.csv` records the 74 entries from review round 2 and the calibration pass, including those that needed no change, each with its implementation and check.

### Rebuilding the paper

The package ZIP holds the published edition at its top level and everything needed to rebuild it under `source/`: the chapters, input data, evidence files and scripts. The author's private notes are never packaged.

From `source/`, run `npm ci` and then `npm run build:all`. That derives every computed number, builds the figures, matrix, LQ and ledgers, renders every edition except the print one, writes the CSV set and runs the checks. An unknown source, claim, figure, instrument or count fails the render. `npm run pdf` makes the print edition, and `npm run package` assembles the ZIP and re-reads it to check it. The build needs Node 22 or later, Python 3.10 or later with `pypdfium2`, and Chrome, Edge or Chromium. `README.md` is the full guide.


## References

The 893 sources cited in this paper, numbered in order of first citation. The full register of 993 sources opened during the research, with access dates, access limits and reliability notes, is in data/source-register.csv.

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[300] Spotify's mission to improve audio brand safety. Spotify Advertising, 2023-06-12. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/news-and-insights/ias-brand-safety-update/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[301] Nielsen to Acquire DoubleVerify, Creating a Leading, Independent Media Intelligence Platform. Nielsen Holdings and DoubleVerify (joint release), 2026-08-06. https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2026/nielsen-to-acquire-doubleverify-creating-a-leading-independent-media-intelligence/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[302] EDGAR full-text search index: DoubleVerify filings mentioning Nielsen, Aug-Sep 2026. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR full-text search). https://efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index?q=%22Nielsen%22&ciks=0001819928&dateRange=custom&startdt=2026-08-01&enddt=2026-09-28 Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: access error; text or metadata via another route.

[303] DoubleVerify Holdings definitive merger proxy (DEFM14A), accession 0001104659-26-111962. DoubleVerify Holdings (SEC EDGAR), 2026-09-29. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1819928/000110465926111962/tm2621904-12_defm14a.htm Accessed 2026-09-30.

[304] Analytics dashboard (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-04-09. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/8957513-analytics-dashboard Accessed 2026-09-28.

[305] Ad Manager: Reporting Suite (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2026-08-27. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/6951763-ad-manager-reporting-suite Accessed 2026-09-28.

[306] AUDIOMOB LTD (11944173): company overview. Companies House (UK registrar), 2026-09-28. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11944173 Accessed 2026-09-28.

[307] Audiomob Ad Formats. Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/ad-formats Accessed 2026-09-28.

[308] Audiomob Integrations (developer page). Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/integrations Accessed 2026-09-28.

[309] Audiomob | In-App Audio Ads (homepage). Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[310] Odeeo privacy policy, home and Advertisers pages. Sonic Odeeo Ltd.. https://odeeo.io/privacy-policy Accessed 2026-09-28.

[311] Global enters mobile gaming arena with strategic investment and exclusive ad sales deal. Global (Global Media & Entertainment), 2022-06-13. https://global.com/global-mobile-gaming-investment-exclusive-ad-sales-deal-2022/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[312] Odeeo Advertisers page. Sonic Odeeo Ltd, undated. https://odeeo.io/advertisers Accessed 2026-09-28.

[313] Odeeo Developers page. Sonic Odeeo Ltd, undated. https://odeeo.io/developers Accessed 2026-09-28.

[314] Odeeo SDK 3.7: Now Supporting Display Banners and MAX Mediation (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd., 2025-09-04. https://blog.odeeo.io/odeeo-sdk-3.7-now-supporting-display-banners-and-max-mediation Accessed 2026-09-29.

[315] Odeeo Is Now a Google Authorized Buyer, and Here's What That Means for Your Campaigns (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, 2026-04-17. https://blog.odeeo.io/odeeo-is-now-a-google-authorized-buyer-and-heres-what-that-means-for-your-campaigns Accessed 2026-09-28.

[316] Expanding Access to Premium Mobile Gaming Supply: Odeeo's Partnership with Unity (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd; quotes Unity, 2026-06-22. https://blog.odeeo.io/expanding-access-to-premium-mobile-gaming-supply-odeeos-partnership-with-unity Accessed 2026-09-28.

[317] Targetspot and Gadsme join forces to launch In-Game Audio Ads to the World. Targetspot (Targetplay division), 2022-09-14. https://www.targetspot.com/blog/targetspot-and-gadsme-join-forces-to-launch-in-game-audio-ads-to-the-world/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[318] Programmatic In-Game Advertising | Gadsme. Gadsme, undated. https://www.gadsme.com/programmatic Accessed 2026-09-28.

[319] Targetplay: Audio Advertising in Gaming & In-App. Targetspot (Azerion group), undated. https://www.targetspot.com/products/targetplay/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[320] Azerion Expands Premium Advertising Offering with Audiomob Moments (blog). Audiomob Ltd (Wilfrid Obeng); quotes Azerion, 2026-07-09. https://audiomob.com/blog/azerion-partners-with-audiomob-to-launch-moments-in-app-audio-advertising Accessed 2026-09-28.

[321] Targetspot home page. Targetspot (Azerion). https://www.targetspot.com/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[322] What is In-Game Audio Advertising (Apex Gaming Network). Apex Gaming Network (Apex Mobile Media), undated. https://www.apexgamingnetwork.com/what-is-in-game-audio-advertising Accessed 2026-09-28.

[323] How In-Game Audio Ads Are Changing Mobile Game Advertising. PayTunes Audio Ads, 2025-05-19. https://paytunesaudioads.com/2025/05/19/mobile-game-advertising/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[324] Audiomob sellers.json (observed file). Audiomob. https://www.audiomob.com/sellers.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[325] Bauer Media Audio Expands audioXi’s Digital Ecosystem through Partnership with Audiomob. Bauer Media Group, 2025-12-10. https://www.bauermedia.com/news/press-release-audioxi-partnership-audiomob Accessed 2026-09-29.

[326] Azerion Expands Premium Advertising Offering with Audiomob Moments (Azerion newsroom copy). Azerion, 2026-07-09. https://www.azerion.com/azerion-expands-premium-advertising-offering-with-audiomob-moments/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[327] AudioMob launches new Demand Side Platform specifically for audio ads in games. New Digital Age, 2021-03-12. https://newdigitalage.co/technology/audiomob-launches-new-demand-side-platform-specifically-for-audio-ads-in-games/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[328] Advertise on AUDIOMOB_MS (AllMediaDesk self-service listing). AllMediaDesk, undated. https://www.allmediadesk.com/en-US/digital-radio-internet-radio-ads/audio-ads/audiomob_ms Accessed 2026-09-29.

[329] Odeeo In-Game Audio Advertising Inventory Is Now Available Through Amazon DSP (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, 2026-03-11. https://blog.odeeo.io/odeeo-in-game-audio-advertising-inventory-is-now-available-through-amazon-dsp Accessed 2026-09-28.

[330] Odeeo in Amazon DSP: What the Inventory Actually Looks Like. VICTOR.AD (Plan DSP Advertising LTD), 2026-04-13. https://victor.ad/academy/odeeo-amazon-dsp Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[331] Odeeo's Premium In-App Audio Inventory Is Now Available Through Walmart DSP (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, 2026-08-13. https://blog.odeeo.io/odeeos-premium-in-app-audio-inventory-is-now-available-through-walmart-dsp Accessed 2026-09-28.

[332] The Current State of In-Game Audio (Amit Monheit, Odeeo). DAX US (Global); author Odeeo CEO, 2023-07-13. https://dax.global.com/us/news/the-current-state-of-in-game-audio/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[333] This Startup Is Using In-Game Audio Ads To Monetize Apps Without Being Annoying. AdExchanger (Allison Schiff), 2021-10-22. https://www.adexchanger.com/gaming/this-startup-is-using-in-game-audio-ads-to-monetize-apps-without-being-annoying/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[334] About Audiomob. Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/about Accessed 2026-09-28.

[335] About Odeeo. Sonic Odeeo Ltd, undated. https://odeeo.io/about-us Accessed 2026-09-28.

[336] Advertise on Odeeo In-Game Audio | AudioGo. AdsWizz Inc. (AudioGo), undated. https://www.audiogo.com/publishers/odeeo Accessed 2026-09-29.

[337] Odeeo raises $5M to expand global audio advertising in games. GamesBeat (Dean Takahashi), 2024-09-04. https://gamesbeat.com/odeeo-raises-5m-to-expand-global-audio-advertising-in-games/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[338] In-Game Advertising Measurement Guidelines 2.0 (Intrinsic In-Game), August 2022. IAB, IAB Tech Lab and Media Rating Council, 2022-08. https://mediaratingcouncil.org/sites/default/files/Standards/In-Game%20Advertising%20Measurement%20Guidelines%2008-31-22.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[339] IAB Gaming Measurement Framework (June 2025) and its guideline page. IAB, 2025-06-26. https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IAB_Gaming_Measurement_Framework_June_2025.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[340] Silencing the Competition: Our Patented Tech Gets Your Audio Ads Heard (blog). Audiomob Ltd (James V. Moore), 2023-11-01. https://audiomob.com/blog/silencing-the-competition-our-patented-tech-gets-your-audio-ads-heard Accessed 2026-09-28.

[341] TAG Registry lookups: Audiomob, Odeeo, GADSME. Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), 2026-09-28. https://www.tagtoday.net/registry Accessed 2026-09-28.

[342] Audiomob recertifies with TAG for Fraud Prevention and Brand Safety (blog). Audiomob Ltd (Wilfrid Obeng), 2026-05-11. https://audiomob.com/blog/audiomob-recertifies-with-tag-for-fraud-prevention-and-brand-safety Accessed 2026-09-28.

[343] Gold Standard Certified & Registered. IAB UK, 2026-09-28. https://www.iabuk.com/goldstandard/certified-and-registered Accessed 2026-09-28.

[344] Audiomob Achieves IAB UK Gold Standard Certification (blog). Audiomob Ltd (Wilfrid Obeng), 2026-09-04. https://audiomob.com/blog/audiomob-achieves-iab-uk-gold-standard-certification Accessed 2026-09-28.

[345] TAG Registry search result: Odeeo. Trustworthy Accountability Group, observed 2026-09-29. https://hubgloo.opxar.com/search?q=odeeo Accessed 2026-09-29.

[346] Oracle Advertising EOL Frequently Asked Questions (Version 3.0). Oracle, 2024-08-12. https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/oracle-advertising-end-of-life-faqs.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[347] Odeeo Collaborates with Oracle Moat to Offer In-Game Audio Ad Verification & Audibility Measurement. ExchangeWire (press release), 2022-04-05. https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2022/04/05/odeeo-collaborates-with-oracle-moat-to-offer-in-game-audio-ad-verification-audibility-measurement/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[348] Case study: Lockwood Publishing (Avakin Life). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/lockwood-publishing Accessed 2026-09-28.

[349] Case study: TapNation (Ice Cream Inc). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/tapnation Accessed 2026-09-28.

[350] Case study: Magic Lab (Dream Wedding). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/magic-lab Accessed 2026-09-28.

[351] Rocket Studio Case Study (landing page). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, undated. https://odeeo.io/case-studies/rocket-studio-case-study Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[352] Lihuhu Case Study (landing page). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, undated. https://odeeo.io/case-studies/lihuhu-case-study Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[353] TapNation Case Study (landing page). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, undated. https://odeeo.io/case-studies/tapnation Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[354] Five Musts for Integrating Audio Ads Into Hyper-Casual Games (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, 2022-10-12. https://blog.odeeo.io/blog/five-musts-for-integrating-audio-ads-into-hyper-casual-games Accessed 2026-09-28.

[355] The Sensitivity of Retention to In-Game Advertisements: An Exploratory Analysis. Zachary Burns, Isaac Roseboom, Nicholas Ross (University of San Francisco; DeltaDNA), 2016. https://cdn.aaai.org/ojs/12906/12906-52-16423-1-2-20201228.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[356] Case study: Chick Mania. Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/chickmania Accessed 2026-09-28.

[357] Case study: Mad Hook (Highway Drifter). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/mad-hook Accessed 2026-09-28.

[358] Case study: Kepithor Studios (Kingdom Karnage). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/kepithor-studios Accessed 2026-09-28.

[359] McDonald's, Admerasia & Odeeo: Proving In-App Audio Drives Growth (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, 2025-11-17. https://blog.odeeo.io/mcdonalds-admerasia-odeeo-proving-in-app-audio-drives-growth Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[360] Case study: HMRC (UK). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/hmrc-x-audiomob Accessed 2026-09-29.

[361] The Power of In-Game Audio Advertising: Insights from Veritonic's Brand Lift Study (H1 2025 Whitepaper). Audiomob Ltd, reporting a Veritonic study 'conducted in partnership with Audiomob', 2025. https://audiomob.com/veritonic_whitepaper_2025_v1.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[362] Audio Q+A: How Odeeo Reaches Engaged Consumers with In-Game Audio Ads. Magnite (interview with Odeeo CEO), 2023-06-12. https://www.magnite.com/blog/audio-qa-how-odeeo-reaches-engaged-consumers-with-in-game-audio-ads/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[363] Measuring Attention Beyond Impression Counts (blog). Audiomob Ltd (Wilfrid Obeng), 2026-09-11. https://audiomob.com/blog/measuring-attention-beyond-impression-counts Accessed 2026-09-28.

[364] How Audiomob Delivers Brand Impact Without Interrupting Gameplay (blog). Audiomob Ltd (Wilfrid Obeng), 2026-09-08. https://audiomob.com/blog/how-audiomob-delivers-brand-impact-without-interrupting-gameplay Accessed 2026-09-28.

[365] New ways to buy, create, and measure. Spotify Advertising (Spotify Editorial Team), 2025-04-02. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/news-and-insights/new-ways-to-buy-create-measure/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[366] Generative AI Audio Ad Creation (US) — Spotify Ads Help Center. Spotify. https://adshelp.spotify.com/s/article/Generative-AI-Audio-Ad-Creation-US?language=en_US Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[367] AdsWizz Announces Launch of Synthetic Voice Ads on AudioGO. AdsWizz Inc. / Sirius XM Holdings (press release), 2024-02-15. https://investor.siriusxm.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2037/adswizz-announces-launch-of-synthetic-voice-ads-on-audiogo Accessed 2026-09-28.

[368] Amazon Ads Launches New AI Tools for Advertisers – AI Creative Studio and Audio Generator. Amazon (Business Wire release), 2024-10-15. https://press.aboutamazon.com/2024/10/amazon-ads-launches-new-ai-tools-for-advertisers-ai-creative-studio-and-audio-generator Accessed 2026-09-28.

[369] Create impactful interactive audio ads in just a few clicks with Audio generator. Amazon Ads, 2024-10-15. https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/audio-generator Accessed 2026-09-28.

[370] SiriusXM Media and Narrativ Team Up on AI Voice Replicas in Audio Advertising. SiriusXM Media (press release), 2025-06-17. https://investor.siriusxm.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2180/siriusxm-media-and-narrativ-team-up-on-ai-voice-replicas-in Accessed 2026-09-28.

[371] SiriusXM Gives Advertisers a New Voice — Powered by AI. Radio World, 2025-06-17. https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/siriusxm-gives-advertisers-a-new-voice-powered-by-ai Accessed 2026-09-28.

[372] Instreamatic Launches Contextual Audio Ads ... Generative AI Ads. Instreamatic (GlobeNewswire release), 2023-03-29. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/03/29/2636339/0/en/Instreamatic-Launches-Contextual-Audio-Ads-to-Better-Engage-Audiences-with-Real-Time-Dynamically-Created-Hyper-Relevant-Generative-AI-Ads.html Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[373] AMA Launches Studio.AI: AI-powered Features for Personalized Audio Advertising. AMA (A Million Ads), 2023-06-14. https://www.amillionads.com/ama-launches-ai-powered-features-for-personalized-audio-advertising-on-spotify-pandora-acast-iheart-and-more/ Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[374] NY Senate Bill S8420A (2025-2026 session): synthetic performers in advertisements. New York State Senate, 2025-12-11. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8420/amendment/A Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[375] New York Enacts 'Synthetic Performer' Disclosure Law for Advertisements, Including Those Using Generative AI. Cooley LLP, 2026-01-29. https://www.cooley.com/news/insight/2026/2026-01-29-new-york-enacts-synthetic-performer-disclosure-law-for-advertisements-including-those-using-generative-ai Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[376] iHeartMedia Draws Industry Line Against AI Voices With New Policy. Radio Ink, 2025-12-01. https://radioink.com/2025/12/01/iheartmedia-draws-industry-line-against-ai-voices-with-new-policy/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[377] Guaranteed Human at CES 2026: Real Voices Drive Real Outcomes. iHeartMedia Editorial Team, 2026-01-22. https://www.iheartmedia.com/advertise/insights/articles/guaranteed-human Accessed 2026-09-28.

[378] iHeartMedia Order Terms and Conditions (dated 09/22/2026). iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc., 2026-09-22. https://www.iheartmedia.com/documents/legal/OrderTermsAndConditions.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[379] More new AI-generated podcasts than human ones. Podnews, 2026-04-15. https://podnews.net/update/ai-slop-overtakes-humans Accessed 2026-09-28.

[380] 5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up's Plan. The Hollywood Reporter, 2025-09-09. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/ai-podcast-start-up-plan-shows-1236361367/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[381] An AI Podcasting Machine Is Churning Out 3,000 Episodes a Week — and People Are Listening. TheWrap, 2025-11-17. https://www.thewrap.com/ai-podcasts-hosts-inception-point-ai/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[382] (Author's work) When the Buyer's Agent Meets the Seller's Agent (Post-Agentic Marketing, part 3). Evgeny Popov, No Fluff Advisory, 2026-07-05. https://nofluffadvisory.com/writing/post-agentic-marketing-part-3/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[383] adcontextprotocol/adcp GitHub releases (v2.0.0, v3.1.24, v3.2.0-rc.7). AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP maintainers), 2026-09-23. https://github.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/releases/tag/v3.1.24 Accessed 2026-09-28.

[384] AdCP schema enum: Media Channel (channels.json) at tag v3.1.24. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2026-09-23. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v3.1.24/static/schemas/source/enums/channels.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[385] AdCP schema enum: Property Type (property-type.json) at tag v3.1.24. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2026-09-23. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v3.1.24/static/schemas/source/enums/property-type.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[386] AdCP schema enum: Advertising Channels (v1 channels.json) at tag v2.0.0. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2025-10-15. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v2.0.0/static/schemas/v1/enums/channels.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[387] AdCP canonical formats audio_hosted.json and audio_daast.json at tag v3.1.24. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2026-09-23. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v3.1.24/static/schemas/source/formats/canonical/audio_hosted.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[388] AdCP schema enums: Digital Source Type (digital-source-type.json) and Specialism (specialism.json) at tag v3.1.24. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2026-09-23. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v3.1.24/static/schemas/source/enums/digital-source-type.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[389] AdCP compliance scenarios completed_views_buy_flow.yaml and reach_buy_flow.yaml at tag v3.1.24. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2026-09-23. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v3.1.24/static/compliance/source/protocols/media-buy/scenarios/completed_views_buy_flow.yaml Accessed 2026-09-28.

[390] AdCP example product triton_daast_audio_30s.json at tag v3.1.24. AgenticAdvertising.org (AdCP), 2026-09-23. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/v3.1.24/static/examples/products/canonical/triton_daast_audio_30s.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[391] IAB Tech Lab Introduces AAMP 3.0 to Standardize the RFP-to-Buy Process for Agentic Advertising. IAB Tech Lab (PR Newswire), 2026-09-22. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iab-tech-lab-introduces-aamp-3-0-to-standardize-the-rfp-to-buy-process-for-agentic-advertising-302885337.html Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[392] OpenProposal — Object Model Specification (AAMP 3.0, v3.0-draft-1) and examples/line-item-audio.yaml. IAB Tech Lab, 2026-09-24. https://github.com/IABTechLab/OpenProposal/blob/v3.0-draft-1/spec/openproposal-3.0.md Accessed 2026-09-28.

[393] IABTechLab/seller-agent v2.4.2: src/ad_seller/models/media_kit.py. IAB Tech Lab, 2026-08-18. https://github.com/IABTechLab/seller-agent/releases/tag/v2.4.2 Accessed 2026-09-28.

[394] IABTechLab/buyer-agent v2.4.2: src/ad_buyer/models/campaign_brief.py. IAB Tech Lab, 2026-08-18. https://github.com/IABTechLab/buyer-agent/blob/v2.4.2/src/ad_buyer/models/campaign_brief.py Accessed 2026-09-28.

[395] Agentic Real Time Framework, Version 1.0 (Agentic_Real_Time_Framework_Version_1_0_FINAL.md). IAB Tech Lab (Container Project Task Force), 2025-11-12. https://github.com/IABTechLab/agentic-rtb-framework/blob/main/Agentic_Real_Time_Framework_Version_1_0_FINAL.md Accessed 2026-09-28.

[396] Agentic Real Time Framework (ARTF) standards page. IAB Tech Lab, 2026-02-18. https://iabtechlab.com/standards/artf/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[397] Butler/Till and iHeartMedia Launch the Advertising Industry's First Agentic Streaming Audio Media Campaign. Butler/Till and iHeartMedia (press release), 2026-08-20. https://www.iheartmedia.com/press/butlertill-and-iheartmedia-launch-advertising-industrys-first-agentic-streaming-audio-media Accessed 2026-09-28.

[398] Butler/Till extends agentic media buying tests into audio with iHeartMedia. Digiday (Sam Bradley), 2026-08-20. https://digiday.com/media-buying/butler-till-extends-agentic-media-buying-tests-into-audio-with-iheartmedia/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[399] Magnite Advances Agentic Vision as Major Media Owners, Buyers and Technology Players Leverage Orchestration Layer. Magnite (GlobeNewswire), 2026-09-16. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/16/3363128/0/en/magnite-advances-agentic-vision-as-major-media-owners-buyers-and-technology-players-leverage-orchestration-layer.html Accessed 2026-09-30.

[400] Prebid Announces Prebid Sales Agent in Collaboration with AgenticAdvertising.org. Prebid.org, 2026-01-29. https://prebid.org/prebid-announces-prebid-sales-agent-in-collaboration-with-agenticadvertising-org/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[401] Introducing the Amazon Ads MCP Server. Amazon Ads (Paula Despins), 2026-02-02. https://advertising.amazon.com/library/news/amazon-ads-mcp-server-open-beta Accessed 2026-09-28.

[402] Amazon Ads introduces Full-Funnel Campaigns, DVA+, and enhanced chat experience in AI-powered ad platform, Amazon Ads Agent. Amazon Ads, 2026-09-29. https://advertising.amazon.com/library/news/amazon-ads-agent Accessed 2026-09-30.

[403] Building a Natural Language Interface to the Spotify Ads API with Claude Code Plugins. Spotify Engineering, 2026-05. https://engineering.atspotify.com/2026/5/spotify-ads-api-claude-plugins Accessed 2026-09-28.

[404] Spotify Ads API: Agents (plugin for Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Antigravity CLI; MCP server; release notes). Spotify for Developers, 2026-08. https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/ads-api/agents Accessed 2026-09-29.

[405] 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (eCFR, current text). Federal Trade Commission / Office of the Federal Register (eCFR), 2023-07-26. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-255 Accessed 2026-09-28.

[406] 16 CFR Part 465, Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (eCFR point-in-time 2026-09-24); FR Doc. 2024-18519, 89 FR 68034. Federal Trade Commission / Office of the Federal Register, 2024-08-22. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-465 Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[411] 47 CFR 73.1212, Sponsorship identification; list retention; related requirements (eCFR, current text). Federal Communications Commission / Office of the Federal Register (eCFR), 2026-04-10. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-73/subpart-H/section-73.1212 Accessed 2026-09-28.

[412] Sponsorship Identification Requirements for Foreign Government-Provided Programming, final rule (FCC 21-42), 86 FR 32221. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2021-06-17. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/17/2021-12207/sponsorship-identification-requirements-for-foreign-government-provided-programming Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[413] Sponsorship Identification Requirements for Foreign Government-Provided Programming, announcement of compliance date, 87 FR 14404. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2022-03-15. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/15/2022-05447/sponsorship-identification-requirements-for-foreign-government-provided-programming Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[414] Sponsorship Identification Requirements for Foreign Government-Provided Programming, Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 87 FR 68960. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2022-11-17. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/11/17/2022-24393/sponsorship-identification-requirements-for-foreign-government-provided-programming Accessed 2026-09-28.

[415] Sponsorship Identification Requirements for Foreign Government-Provided Programming, Second Report and Order (FCC 24-61), 89 FR 57775. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2024-07-16. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/16/2024-15259/sponsorship-identification-requirements-for-foreign-government-provided-programming Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[416] Sponsorship Identification Requirements for Foreign Government-Provided Programming, announcement of effective date, 90 FR 24351. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2025-06-10. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/06/10/2025-10478/sponsorship-identification-requirements-for-foreign-government-provided-programming Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[417] FCC Media Bureau Public Notice DA 26-526 on foreign sponsorship identification requirements. Federal Communications Commission, 2026-05-26. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-526A1.pdf Accessed 2026-09-30.

[418] Protecting Our Communications Networks by Promoting Transparency Regarding Foreign Adversary Control, final rule (FCC 26-2), 91 FR 18670. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2026-04-10. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/10/2026-06992/protecting-our-communications-networks-by-promoting-transparency-regarding-foreign-adversary-control Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

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[426] California Won't Let It Go: Attorney General Bonta Announces $2.75 Million Settlement with Disney, Largest CCPA Settlement in California History. California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, 2026-02-11. https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/california-wont-let-it-go-attorney-general-bonta-announces-275-million Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[428] Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, final rule amendments, 90 FR 16918 (FR Doc. 2025-05904). Federal Trade Commission (Federal Register), 2025-04-22. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/22/2025-05904/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule Accessed 2026-09-28.

[429] 16 CFR Part 312, Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (eCFR, current text). Federal Trade Commission / Office of the Federal Register (eCFR), 2025-04-22. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-312 Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[431] HB 2091 / SB 2096 (the 'ELVIS Act'), bill history, Public Chapter 588. Tennessee General Assembly, 2024-03-26. https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB2091&GA=113 Accessed 2026-09-28.

[432] S. 1367 (119th Congress), NO FAKES Act of 2025, as introduced in the Senate. U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), 2025-04-09. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119s1367is/html/BILLS-119s1367is.htm Accessed 2026-09-28.

[433] H.R. 2794 (119th Congress), NO FAKES Act of 2025, as introduced in the House. U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), 2025-04-09. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr2794ih/html/BILLS-119hr2794ih.htm Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[434] Congress.gov API: actions for S. 1367 and H.R. 2794 (119th Congress). Library of Congress, 2026-08-10 (record update date). https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/s/1367/actions Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[437] Disclosure and Transparency of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content in Political Advertisements, NPRM (FCC 24-74), 89 FR 63381, MB Docket No. 24-211. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2024-08-05. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/05/2024-16977/disclosure-and-transparency-of-artificial-intelligence-generated-content-in-political-advertisements Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[438] FCC Order DA 24-849, MB Docket 24-211 (extension of comment deadlines). Federal Communications Commission, 2024-08-22. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-849A1.pdf Accessed 2026-09-30.

[439] AB 2355 (Carrillo), Political Reform Act of 1974: political advertisements: artificial intelligence, Chapter 260, Statutes of 2024. California Legislature, 2024-09-17. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2355 Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[444] Beasley Media Group Enters Podcast Agreement with Amazon's ART19. Beasley Media Group, LLC, 2025-09-04. https://bbgi.com/beasley-media-group-enters-podcast-agreement-with-amazons-art19/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: access error; text or metadata via another route.

[445] RSS feed: WMMR's Preston & Steve Daily Podcast (Beasley). 93.3 WMMR - Beasley Media Group, LLC (hosted on ART19), 2026-09-28. https://rss.art19.com/wmmrs-preston-and-steve-daily-podcast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[446] EDGAR submissions index for Spotify Technology S.A. (CIK 0001639920). SEC EDGAR. https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0001639920.json Accessed 2026-09-29.

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[451] IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Independent Certification: Acast (report, 5 pages). IAB Tech Lab, 2026-02-18. https://compliance.iabtechnologylab.com/compliant-companies-certificates/Acast_IAB%20Podcast%20Measurement%20Report_02.18.2026.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[452] Campaign Delivery Report (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2023-08-10. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/6518725-campaign-delivery-report Accessed 2026-09-29.

[453] IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Independent Certification: Megaphone (report). IAB Technology Laboratory (IAB Tech Lab), 2025-09-30. https://compliance.iabtechnologylab.com/compliant-companies-certificates/11.3.2025%20Megaphone%20-%20IAB%20Podcast%20Measurement%20Report.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[454] Streaming Audio Advertising in Charlotte (Beasley Media Group market sales site). Beasley Media Group. https://advertiseincharlotte.com/services/advertising/streaming-audio/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[455] iheartadbuilder.com (access observation). iHeartMedia. https://www.iheartadbuilder.com/overview Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[456] iHeartMedia Radio Advertising and Podcast Advertising (iheartmedia.com/advertise). iHeartMedia. https://www.iheartmedia.com/advertise Accessed 2026-09-29.

[457] Amazon.com, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (accession 0001018724-26-000004). Amazon.com, Inc. / SEC EDGAR, 2026-02-06. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872426000004/amzn-20251231.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[458] A Sound Move: Marketers Say Digital Audio is Ready for Bigger Investment (registration page). EMARKETER in partnership with Amazon Ads, 2025-12. https://cloud.insight.insiderintelligence.com/20251222-AmazonAdsAudio-CustomReport_RegPageProgPro Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[459] Digital audio ads have an audience. Marketers just can't prove it yet. EMARKETER Editors, 2026-03-17. https://www.emarketer.com/content/digital-audio-ads-have-audience--marketers-just-can-t-prove-yet Accessed 2026-09-29.

[460] eMarketer Reports Advertisers Have Difficulty Measuring Audio ROI ... (Audio Active Group blog). Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group, 2026-02-17. https://www.westwoodone.com/blog/2026/02/17/emarketer-reports-advertisers-have-difficulty-measuring-audio-roi-marketers-mistakenly-believe-brand-campaigns-should-be-evaluated-with-lower-funnel-measurement-akin-to-testing-a-spanish-class-with/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[461] Advertisers Cite Measurement, Not Cost, as Top Audio Obstacle. Radio Ink, 2026-02-18. https://radioink.com/2026/02/18/advertisers-cite-measurement-not-cost-as-top-audio-obstacle/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[462] Why the volume is turning up on digital audio advertising. Christopher Wood, EMARKETER, 2026-02-26. https://www.emarketer.com/content/why-volume-turning-up-on-digital-audio-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[463] Audio Advertising State of the Nation Report, wave 10, 2026. IAB Australia, 2026-03-03. https://www.iabaustralia.com.au/mp-files/audio-advertising-state-of-the-nation-2026.pdf/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[464] Advertiser Perceptions: Podcast Advertising Discussion And Spending Intention Hit A Twelve-Year High Among Agencies And Marketers. Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group, 2026-07-13. https://www.westwoodone.com/blog/2026/07/13/advertiser-perceptions-podcast-advertising-discussion-and-spending-intention-hit-a-twelve-year-high-among-agencies-and-marketers/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[465] Digiday+ Research: The current state of podcast ad spending and strategies. Digiday with Sounds Profitable, 2023-07-13. https://digiday.com/podcasts/digiday-research-podcasts-draw-devoted-audiences-but-ad-spending-lags/ Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[466] Podcast Performance Benchmark Reports (Podscribe). Podscribe. https://podscribe.com/ppb-reports Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[467] Monetization Policies & Brand Safety (Spotify Ads Help Center topic). Spotify Advertising. https://adshelp.spotify.com/HelpCenter/s/topic/0TOTi0000000eYXOAY/monetization-policies-brand-safety?language=en_US Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[468] SoundStack API documentation portal and support site (access check). SoundStack, Inc.. https://docs.soundstack.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[469] AdsWizz advertiser pages: AudioMatic DSP, Marketplace, Measurement & Attribution. AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/advertisers/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[470] About Spotify Ad Analytics (help centre). Spotify. https://help.adanalytics.spotify.com/about-ad-analytics Accessed 2026-09-28.

[471] AudioGO home page and 'Advertise on AudioMack' page. AdsWizz Inc. (AudioGO). https://www.audiogo.com/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[472] Spreaker - Podcast Hosting & Monetization Platform (Triton Digital product page). Triton Digital. https://www.tritondigital.com/solutions/podcasting/spreaker Accessed 2026-09-29.

[473] The Prime Network Monetization (Spreaker Help Center). Spreaker Inc., 2023-07-18. https://help.spreaker.com/en/articles/8119773-the-prime-network-monetization Accessed 2026-09-29.

[474] Omny Studio - Enterprise Podcast Hosting Platform (Triton Digital product page; omnystudio.com redirects here). Triton Digital. https://www.tritondigital.com/solutions/podcasting/omny-studio Accessed 2026-09-29.

[475] Programmatic Radio Advertising - Jelli RadioSpot (Triton Digital page). Triton Digital. https://www.tritondigital.com/solutions/audio-advertising/jelli Accessed 2026-09-29.

[476] Sounder (Triton Digital solutions page). Triton Digital. https://www.tritondigital.com/solutions/audio-advertising/sounder Accessed 2026-09-28.

[477] Amazon Ads IO terms and conditions. Amazon Advertising LLC. https://advertising.amazon.com/legal/io-terms Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[480] Audacy Standard Broadcast Advertising Terms and Conditions; Audacy Digital Advertising Terms and Conditions. Audacy, Inc.. https://www.audacyinc.com/standard-advertising-terms-conditions/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[482] Libsyn Ads Terms of Service. AdvertiseCast, LLC dba Libsyn Ads. https://libsynads.com/terms Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[486] Captivate home page; Global acquires podcast hosting platform start-up (Global release). Captivate Audio Ltd.; Global, 2021-12-20. https://global.com/global-acquires-podcast-hosting-platform-start-up/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[487] Audiomob Privacy Policy and home page. AUDIOMOB LTD. https://audiomob.com/privacy-policy Accessed 2026-09-28.

[488] Odeeo Secures $9M Investment to Grow In-Game Audio Advertising (Odeeo blog). Odeeo, 2022-06-13. https://blog.odeeo.io/blog/odeeo-secures-9m-investment-to-grow-in-game-audio-advertising Accessed 2026-09-28.

[489] SoundStack home page. SoundStack, Inc.. https://www.soundstack.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[490] Saga Communications, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025. Saga Communications, Inc., 2026-04-14. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/886136/000110465926043166/sga-20251231x10k.htm Accessed 2026-09-28.

[491] MediaCo Holding Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025. MediaCo Holding Inc., 2026-03-31. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1784254/000178425426000009/mdia-20251231.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[492] Who We Are (Salem Media). Salem Media. https://salemmedia.com/about-us/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[493] Debt Reduction Overshadows Net Loss For Salem Media in 2025 (Radio Ink). Radio Ink, 2026-03-12. https://radioink.com/2026/03/12/debt-reduction-overshadows-a-net-loss-for-salem-media-in-2025/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[494] Hubbard Media That Connects: home page. Hubbard Radio, LLC. https://hubbardradio.com/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[497] Uforia Music evoluciona a ViX Música, The Home Of Latin Music (Univision). Univision (TelevisaUnivision), 2026-06-25. https://www.univision.com/radio/uforia-music-evoluciona-a-vix-musica-the-home-of-latin-music Accessed 2026-09-28.

[498] Podbean Ads Marketplace vs Dynamic Ad Insertion (Podbean blog). Podbean, 2026-07-15. https://blog.podbean.com/podbean-ads-marketplace-vs-dynamic-ad-insertion/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[501] Magellan AI home page. Twenty Nine Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Magellan AI. https://www.magellan.ai/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[509] sellers.json files of AdsWizz, Triton Digital, SoundStack and AmperWave (observed files). AdsWizz; Triton Digital; SoundStack; AmperWave, 2026-09-29. https://amperwave.net/sellers.json Accessed 2026-09-29.

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[516] Host-Read Podcast Ads Pack a Brand Recall Punch. Nielsen, 2020-10. https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2020/host-read-podcast-ads-pack-a-brand-recall-punch/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

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[518] Increasing brand awareness: Memory for short audio ads (Psychology & Marketing 38(11): 1960-1972). Vinith Johnson, Zhen Zhu, Roger Anguera, Jacob Bollinger, Jonathan Eccles, David Hardtke, Maria Breza, Theodore P. Zanto, 2021-08-02. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21558 Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[519] New Study Shatters Stereotypes About Gamers and Advertising Preferences (Veritonic case study with Audiomob). Veritonic (release hosted by Sounds Profitable), 2025-04-02. https://soundsprofitable.com/press-release/new-study-shatters-stereotypes-about-gamers-and-advertising-preferences/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[520] Case study: UWE Bristol x SMRS x Audiomob. Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/university-of-west-england-bristol-x-smrs-x-audiomob Accessed 2026-09-28.

[521] IABTechLab/agentic-rtb-framework v1.0 release and README (ARTF). IAB Tech Lab, 2026-07-20. https://github.com/IABTechLab/agentic-rtb-framework Accessed 2026-09-28.

[522] Amazon DSP now supports audio ad campaigns via API - here is what changed. PPC Land, 2026-06. https://ppc.land/amazon-dsp-now-supports-audio-ad-campaigns-via-api-here-is-what-changed/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[523] Code of Virginia section 59.1-577, Personal data rights; consumers. Virginia General Assembly, Division of Legislative Automated Systems, 2025. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-577/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[524] Children's Online Privacy in 2026: More State App Store, Design Code and Social Media Laws Enacted - Then Delayed. Loeb & Loeb LLP (McGinn, Marlowe), 2026-06. https://www.loeb.com/en/insights/publications/2026/06/childrens-online-privacy-2026-state-app-store-design-code-and-social-media-laws Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[525] Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies on Protecting Consumers From Unwanted Robocalls and Robotexts, NPRM (FCC 24-84), 89 FR 73321. Federal Communications Commission (Federal Register), 2024-09-10. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/09/10/2024-19028/implications-of-artificial-intelligence-technologies-on-protecting-consumers-from-unwanted-robocalls-and-robotexts Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: abstract only.

[526] Acast AB (publ) Interim report January-June 2026. Acast AB (publ), 2026-07-23. https://storage.mfn.se/e15299a8-db96-4522-bc7a-59f786d79e9b/acast-q2-2026-eng.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[527] Launch Podcast Ads in Minutes | Acast Ad Platform. Acast. https://www.acast.com/en/advertise/ad-platform Accessed 2026-09-29.

[528] Acast Publishing API (Acast Learning Center) and developers.acast.com. Acast. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/5790019-acast-publishing-api Accessed 2026-09-29.

[529] Frequency capping (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-04-08. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/6696898-frequency-capping Accessed 2026-09-29.

[530] Overview Dashboard (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-04-09. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/11057187-overview-dashboard Accessed 2026-09-29.

[531] How to install Acast's Attribution pixels (Acast Learning Center). Acast. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/7912911-how-to-install-acast-s-attribution-pixels Accessed 2026-09-29.

[532] Acast Fuels Brand Safety for Advertisers Across Global Network of Podcasts. Acast, 2024-10-31. https://www.acast.com/en/news-and-insights/acast-fuels-brand-safety-for-advertisers-across-global-network-of-podcasts Accessed 2026-09-28.

[533] Acast and Magnite Partner to Expand Programmatic Podcast Advertising at Global Scale. Acast, 2025-07-29. https://www.acast.com/en-gb/press-room/acast-and-magnite-partner-to-expand-programmatic-podcast-advertising-at-global-scale Accessed 2026-09-29.

[534] Acast AB (publ) Year-end report January-December 2023 (and MFN release 'Q4: Positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time'). Acast AB (publ), 2024-02-12. https://storage.mfn.se/baa3c999-6bf1-47bc-9f32-7da3b753f9f5/acast-year-end-report-2023.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[535] IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Independent Certification: ART19 (report). IAB Technology Laboratory (IAB Tech Lab), 2026-02-10. https://compliance.iabtechnologylab.com/compliant-companies-certificates/ART19_IAB%20Podcast%20Measurement%20Report_02.10.2026.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[536] Audio ads ad specifications. Amazon Ads, undated (read 2026-09-29). https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/ad-specs/audio-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[537] Interactive audio ads is now available both on Amazon Music ad-supported tier and Amazon Publisher Direct on Alexa in the US. Amazon Ads (What's new), 2023-10-25. https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/interactive-audio-ads-enhancements Accessed 2026-09-29.

[538] Amazon Ads API release notes (Advanced Tools Center RSS feed). Amazon Ads, items dated 2025-12-01 to 2026-06-30 (100 items in feed). https://d3a0d0y2hgofx6.cloudfront.net/rss/en-us/ad-api-rss.xml Accessed 2026-09-29.

[539] How does line item pacing work?. ART19 Help Center, 2026-07-14 (updated 2026-07-23). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/47379690783885 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[540] How do I configure Frequency?. ART19 Help Center, 2023-08-09 (updated 2026-07-23). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/18382952846349 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[541] Amazon DSP accreditation letter and Specific Accredited Metrics. Media Rating Council (MRC), 2026-05-29. https://mediaratingcouncil.org/sites/default/files/Accreditation%20Letters/Amazon/GI052926_Amazon%20DSP%20Accreditation%20Letter.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[542] Amazon Expands Podcast Advertising Measurement With New Audio Data. Inside Radio, 2026-09-24. https://www.insideradio.com/free/amazon-expands-podcast-advertising-measurement-with-new-audio-data/article_f811f236-ea3f-4d3e-982e-49c775c04934.html Accessed 2026-09-28.

[543] PodcastOne Moves Network of Programming to Amazon's Podcast Hosting Service ART19. PodcastOne, Inc. (press release carried by Podnews), 2025-01-31. https://podnews.net/press-release/podcastone-art19 Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[544] What is Amazon's Podcast Audience Network?. ART19 Help Center, 2024-11-20 (updated 2026-08-17). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/32045221556877 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[545] Amazon lays off more than 100 employees in Wondery unit as part of audio business restructuring. CNBC, 2025-08-04. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/04/amazon-cuts-some-wondery-podcast-jobs-as-part-of-audio-business-reorg.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[546] DNS and archive check of advertising.wondery.com. Google Public DNS (dns.google resolve API); Internet Archive Wayback availability API, 2026-09-29. https://dns.google/resolve?name=advertising.wondery.com&type=A Accessed 2026-09-29.

[547] Amazon Ads and SiriusXM Media announce new programmatic audio offering through Amazon DSP. Amazon Ads (news), 2025-09-16. https://advertising.amazon.com/library/news/amazon-ads-sirius-xm-integration Accessed 2026-09-29.

[548] May 1, 2026 (release note: Auto-Approvals Product Update). ART19 Help Center, 2026-05-05. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/45600048020237 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[549] US 11,681,494 B2: Adding audio content to digital works (Google Patents record). Google Patents (USPTO data), 2023-06-20. https://patents.google.com/patent/US11681494B2/en Accessed 2026-09-29.

[550] Audiomob Patents. Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/patents Accessed 2026-09-29.

[551] Audiomob Ltd unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 (iXBRL). Audiomob Ltd / Companies House, 2025-06-05. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11944173/filing-history/MzQ2OTA0MjMwN2FkaXF6a2N4/document?format=xhtml&download=1 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[552] Audiomob Contact. Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/contact Accessed 2026-09-29.

[553] AUDIOMOB LTD (11944173): filing history (page 1). Companies House (UK registrar), 2026-09-29. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11944173/filing-history Accessed 2026-09-29.

[554] Top US Podcast Publishers and Networks, US Audience: August 2026. Podtrac, Inc.. https://analytics.podtrac.com/podcast-publisher-rankings Accessed 2026-09-29.

[555] A New Way To Target: Game Emotions from Odeeo (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd., 2025-04-02. https://blog.odeeo.io/a-new-way-to-target-game-emotions-from-odeeo Accessed 2026-09-29.

[556] Odeeo sellers.json (served from supply-chain.odeeo.io). Sonic Odeeo Ltd., observed 2026-09-29. https://odeeo.io/sellers.json Accessed 2026-09-29.

[557] Odeeo app-ads.txt / ads.txt (served from supply-chain.odeeo.io). Sonic Odeeo Ltd., observed 2026-09-29. https://odeeo.io/app-ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[558] Audio Is Becoming Easier to Include in the Wider Media Plan (blog). Sonic Odeeo Ltd, 2026-08-12. https://blog.odeeo.io/audio-is-becoming-easier-to-include-in-the-wider-media-plan Accessed 2026-09-28.

[559] Streaming Audio Ads: specifications (audio, dynamic audio, sequential audio). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/run-streaming-audio-ads-across-the-siriusxm-streaming-network Accessed 2026-09-29.

[560] Host-Read Ads: specifications. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/host-read-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[561] SiriusXM Audio Spots: specifications. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/audio-spots Accessed 2026-09-29.

[562] Adding Audio to an RMN Drives Incrementality and ROAS for a CPG Brand. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2026-05-26. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/adding-audio-to-an-rmn-drives-incrementality-and-roas-for-a-cpg-brand Accessed 2026-09-29.

[563] The Sound Effect: Digital Audio Delivers Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2026-07-29. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/the-sound-effect-digital-audio-delivers-return-on-ad-spend-roas Accessed 2026-09-29.

[564] Pandora becomes first audio publisher to adopt Unified ID 2.0. Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (press release), 2024-06-17. https://investor.siriusxm.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2078/pandora-becomes-first-audio-publisher-to-adopt-unified-id Accessed 2026-09-29.

[565] SiriusXM Media FAQs. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/faq Accessed 2026-09-29.

[566] SiriusXM Media & Amazon Ads Expand Programmatic Audio Offering in Amazon DSP. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2026-07-02. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/siriusxm-media-and-amazon-ads-now-offer-programmatic-audio-through-amazon-dsp Accessed 2026-09-29.

[567] SiriusXM Media and AdsWizz Expand Relationship with LiveRamp to Power Scalable Audience Targeting and Campaign Measurement in Digital Audio. Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (press release), 2026-05-28. https://investor.siriusxm.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2269/siriusxm-media-and-adswizz-expand-relationship-with Accessed 2026-09-29.

[568] Spotify Ads API (overview, versioning, support). Spotify for Developers. https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/ads-api Accessed 2026-09-29.

[569] Campaign Management Updates: What's Changed in Megaphone. Megaphone Help Center, 2026-08-04. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/14627072-campaign-management-updates-what-s-changed-in-megaphone Accessed 2026-09-29.

[570] What are Streamed Impressions?. Megaphone Help Center, 2023-07-28. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/8187181-what-are-streamed-impressions Accessed 2026-09-29.

[571] Campaign targeting (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2024-12-16. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/6515240-campaign-targeting Accessed 2026-09-29.

[572] Audience Attributes (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2024-12-16. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/10066820-audience-attributes Accessed 2026-09-29.

[573] How to book a host-read sponsorship (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-04-08. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/8614831-how-to-book-a-host-read-sponsorship Accessed 2026-09-29.

[574] Acast Launches Talent-Voiced Ads: Authentic Voices in Programmatic Audio (Podnews press-release copy). Acast, 2025-05-15. https://podnews.net/press-release/acast-talent-voiced-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[575] How does Acast measure ad delivery? (IAB 2.2) (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-10-29. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/8306277-how-does-acast-measure-ad-delivery-iab-2-2 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[576] Updates to Attribution Tracking (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-10-21. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/12634070-updates-to-attribution-tracking Accessed 2026-09-29.

[577] Campaign Forecasting (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2025-04-08. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/6515250-campaign-forecasting Accessed 2026-09-29.

[578] Buy Podcast Ads Programmatically | PG and PMP | Acast. Acast. https://www.acast.com/en/advertise/programmatic Accessed 2026-09-29.

[579] Acast vendor information (Acast Learning Center). Acast, 2026-06-16. https://learn.acast.com/en/articles/6569957-acast-vendor-information Accessed 2026-09-29.

[580] Acast sellers.json (observed file). Acast. https://acast.com/sellers.json Accessed 2026-09-28.

[581] Podcast ads on Amazon DSP will now offer Amazon Audiences to self-service advertisers in the US. Amazon Ads (What's new), 2024-06-03. https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/podcasts-ads-on-amazon-dsp Accessed 2026-09-29.

[582] Podcast Audience Network integration with Amazon DSP now available. Amazon Ads (What's new), 2026-01-01. https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/podcast-audience-network-integration-with-amazon-dsp Accessed 2026-09-29.

[583] Engage listeners in a natural way with interactive audio ads (Interactive audio ads launches for US advertisers). Amazon Ads (What's new), 2022-05-12. https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/interactive-audio-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[584] Amazon.com, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (accession 0001018724-26-000026). Amazon.com, Inc. / SEC EDGAR, 2026-07-31. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872426000026/amzn-20260630.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[585] art19.com ads.txt. ART19, live file (read 2026-09-29). https://art19.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[586] Apple iTunes Search API: podcasts matching 'wondery' (feed URL hosts). Apple (iTunes Search API), 2026-09-29. https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=wondery&entity=podcast&limit=50 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[587] Why Audio Ads Are Built for a Privacy-First Future (blog). Audiomob Ltd (co-founder), 2026-07-30. https://audiomob.com/blog/why-audio-ads-are-built-for-a-privacy-first-future Accessed 2026-09-29.

[588] Case study: Money Man (EMPIRE). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/audiomob-x-empire-money-man Accessed 2026-09-29.

[589] Audiomob: A game changer for audio advertising (Google Cloud customer story). Google Cloud, undated. https://cloud.google.com/customers/audiomob-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[590] Case study: Hyundai (Türkiye). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/hyundai-x-audiomob Accessed 2026-09-29.

[591] Audiomob Careers. Audiomob Ltd, 2026. https://audiomob.com/careers Accessed 2026-09-29.

[592] Case study: Nas / Mass Appeal. Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/nas-mass-appeal Accessed 2026-09-29.

[593] Case study: Warner Music Group. Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/warner-music Accessed 2026-09-29.

[594] Protecting Brand Reputation Through Safer Advertising (blog). Audiomob Ltd (co-founder), 2026-08-13. https://audiomob.com/blog/protecting-brand-reputation-through-safer-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[595] The Hidden Cost of Ad Fraud in Mobile Advertising (blog). Audiomob Ltd (co-founder), 2026-09-16. https://audiomob.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-ad-fraud-in-mobile-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[596] Breaking Stereotypes: What Veritonic's Latest Study Reveals About Gamers and In-Game Audio Ads (blog). Audiomob Ltd (Shannon Maguire), 2025-06-25. https://audiomob.com/blog/breaking-stereotypes-what-veritonics-latest-study-reveals-about-gamers-and-in-game-audio-ads Accessed 2026-09-28.

[597] Case study: Coca-Cola (Egypt). Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/coca-cola-x-audiomob Accessed 2026-09-29.

[598] Case study: INDIEZ. Audiomob Ltd, undated. https://audiomob.com/case-studies/indiez Accessed 2026-09-28.

[599] IHeartMedia's New PMP Is Just For Podcasts, And The Scale Is There. AdExchanger, 2021-05-05. https://www.adexchanger.com/audio/iheartmedias-new-pmp-is-just-for-podcasts-and-the-scale-is-there/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[600] Broadcast Radio Is Now Available Through DSPs. Triton Digital news item (trade report reposted by the iHeart subsidiary), 2025-12-18. https://tritondigital.com/news-item/December-18-2025/broadcast-radio-is-now-available-through-dsps Accessed 2026-09-29.

[601] iHeartMedia Rolls Out New iHeartPodcast AdSuite Offering a Comprehensive Solution for Podcast Marketing. iHeartMedia, 2020-02-12. https://www.iheartmedia.com/press/iheartmedia-rolls-out-new-iheartpodcast-adsuite-offering-comprehensive-solution-podcast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[602] Audio Performs, and It's Easier Than Ever to Prove It. iHeartMedia (advertiser insights article). https://www.iheartmedia.com/advertise/insights/articles/audio-measurement Accessed 2026-09-29.

[603] Radio and Podcast Advertising (iheartmedia.com/advertising). iHeartMedia. https://www.iheartmedia.com/advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[604] About the Podcast Industry Audience Rankings. Podtrac. https://analytics.podtrac.com/about-the-podcast-rankings Accessed 2026-09-29.

[605] Programmatic Audio Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Marketers. iHeartMedia (advertiser insights article). https://www.iheartmedia.com/advertise/insights/articles/audio-made-simple Accessed 2026-09-29.

[606] IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Independent Certification: Omny Studio (report, 5 pages). IAB Tech Lab (report prepared by AAM for Omny Studio), 2025-01-31. https://compliance.iabtechnologylab.com/compliant-companies-certs/1740697286603-Omny_Studio_-_IAB_Podcast_Measurement_Report_02.17.2025.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[607] iheart.com app-ads.txt (observed file). iHeartMedia. https://www.iheart.com/app-ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[608] NumberEight & Odeeo Partner to Enhance In-Game Audio Advertising with Advanced Audience Targeting for Brands. ExchangeWire (press release), 2025-05-08. https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2025/05/08/numbereight-odeeo-partner-to-enhance-in-game-audio-advertising-with-advanced-audience-targeting-for-brands/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[609] Odeeo Expands Offering to Bring Programmatic Audio Advertising to Millions of Mobile Gamers. ExchangeWire (press release), 2022-11-29. https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2022/11/29/odeeo-expands-offering-to-bring-programmatic-audio-advertising-to-millions-of-mobile-gamers/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[610] Odeeo expands US presence with hire of audio streaming veteran. Sonic Odeeo Ltd. via EIN Presswire, 2024-04-17. https://www.einpresswire.com/article/704105415/odeeo-expands-us-presence-with-hire-of-audio-streaming-veteran Accessed 2026-09-29.

[611] Targeted Audio Ad Campaigns: Find Your Audience. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/targeting Accessed 2026-09-29.

[612] Influence shoppers with digital audio ads for retail media networks. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/digital-audio-ads-for-retail-media-networks Accessed 2026-09-29.

[613] Advertise on Pandora, the largest ad-supported audience in audio. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/advertising-on-pandora Accessed 2026-09-29.

[614] Announcer-Read Ads: specifications. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/announcer-read-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[615] Live Reads: specifications. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/live-reads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[616] Podcast Advertising: Amplify Your Brand to Engaged Listeners (SiriusXM Podcast Network). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/podcast-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[617] Streaming rewarded ads: specifications (Sponsored Listening, Video Plus, Happy Hour). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/win-over-listeners-with-award-based-advertising-solutions Accessed 2026-09-29.

[618] Studio Resonate: The Audio Creative Agency. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/studio-resonate Accessed 2026-09-29.

[619] Advertising Guidelines (Pandora). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/ad-guidelines Accessed 2026-09-29.

[620] We Meet IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines (for Starters). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2025-06-16. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/we-meet-iab-podcast-measurement-guidelines-for-starters Accessed 2026-09-29.

[621] SiriusXM Media + Innovid: Advancing Audio in Media Mix Models. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2025-06-16. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/siriusxm-media-innovid-advancing-audio-in-media-mix-models Accessed 2026-09-29.

[622] Programmatic Audio Advertising with Data-Driven Targeting. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/programmatic-audio-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[623] SiriusXM Media Is the First Audio Partner Integrated into VideoAmp's VXP. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2026-03-18. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/siriusxm-media-is-the-first-audio-partner-integrated-into-videoamps-vxp Accessed 2026-09-29.

[624] Streaming ads with SiriusXM Media (SiriusXM Streaming Network). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/streaming-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[625] Advertise on SiriusXM (satellite). SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media). https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/siriusxm-ads Accessed 2026-09-29.

[626] SiriusXM Media at Cannes 2026: The Future of Advertising. SiriusXM Media (Pandora Media, LLC d/b/a SiriusXM Media), 2026-07-06. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/siriusxm-media-at-cannes-2026-the-future-of-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[627] pandora.com ads.txt (observed file). SiriusXM (Pandora). https://pandora.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-28.

[628] siriusxm.com ads.txt (observed file). SiriusXM. https://www.siriusxm.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-28.

[629] Audience targeting: Find your people. Spotify Advertising. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/goals/audience-targeting/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[630] Audio ads specs (Spotify Ads Manager, Direct IO and Spotify Ad Exchange). Spotify Advertising. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/ad-experiences/audio-ads-specs/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[631] Get Started With Podcast Ads on Spotify. Spotify Advertising. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/ad-experiences/podcast-ads/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[632] DoubleVerify Expands Invalid Traffic and Viewability Measurement to Spotify Video Ads. DoubleVerify, 2024-10-16. https://doubleverify.com/company/newsroom/doubleverify-expands-invalid-traffic-and-viewability-measurement-to-spotify-video-ads-continuing-to-lead-industry-in-independent-platform-measurement Accessed 2026-09-29.

[633] Spotify Technology S.A. Form 6-K: interim condensed consolidated financial statements and MD&A for the three months ended 31 March 2026 (accession 0001628280-26-027951). Spotify Technology S.A. / SEC EDGAR, 2026-04-28. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1639920/000162828026027951/spot-20260331x6xk.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[634] Supported exchange partners - Display & Video 360 Help. Google (Display & Video 360 Help Center). https://support.google.com/displayvideo/table/6275132?hl=en Accessed 2026-09-28.

[635] spotify.com ads.txt (observed file). Spotify. https://www.spotify.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-28.

[636] Measure and optimize your performance (Spotify Ads goals: ad measurement). Spotify Advertising. https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/goals/ad-measurement/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[637] Cumulus Media Influencer Program (station site). Cumulus Media (station site), 2026-02-03. https://cumulustoledo.com/influencers/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[638] Cumulus Media Toledo | Monroe home page (Advertising Performance Guarantees banner). Cumulus Media (station site), 2026-02-10. https://cumulustoledo.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[639] cumulusmedia.com ads.txt (observed file). Cumulus Media, 2026-09-14. https://www.cumulusmedia.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[640] Libsyn Hits Record Creator Payouts and Launches 'Libsyn Audience Network' Amid Surging Advertiser Demand. Liberated Syndication Inc. (press release via Podnews), 2026-03-11. https://podnews.net/press-release/libsyn-creator-payouts Accessed 2026-09-29.

[641] Libsyn Ads: Premier Podcast Advertising Network (advertisers page). Libsyn Ads. https://advertising.libsyn.com/podcast-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[642] Libsyn Ads | Podcast Advertising Network (home page). Libsyn Ads. https://advertising.libsyn.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[643] PodcastOne, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (accession 0001437749-26-028050). PodcastOne, Inc., 2026-08-14. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1940177/000143774926028050/podc20260630c_10q.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[644] Advertise | PodcastOne. PodcastOne. https://www.podcastone.com/advertise Accessed 2026-09-29.

[645] Uforia Case Study. AdsWizz Inc., 2023-09-28. https://www.adswizz.com/resources/case-studies/uforia-case-study/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[646] Insertion Order template: Standard Terms for the Purchase of Media - Digital (2023). TelevisaUnivision, 2024-01. https://corporate.televisaunivision.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/01/Standard-Terms-for-the-Purchase-of-Media-%E2%80%93-Digital-2023-1.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[647] TelevisaUnivision advertiser pages: Advanced Solutions, Grow with Us, Así Studios. TelevisaUnivision, 2022-11-02. https://corporate.televisaunivision.com/advertise/solutions/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[648] Terms and Conditions for the Purchase of Advertising on TelevisaUnivision O&O Media Properties (TV and Radio, 2023). TelevisaUnivision, 2024-01. https://corporate.televisaunivision.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/01/Standard-Terms-for-the-Purchase-of-Media-%E2%80%93-TV-and-Radio-2023-1.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[649] TelevisaUnivision: Así Studios capabilities page. TelevisaUnivision. https://corporate.televisaunivision.com/advertise/capabilities/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[650] One Solution (brand page). Urban One, Inc.. https://urban1.com/vtq-portfolio/one-solution/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[651] Radio One (brand page). Urban One, Inc., 2026-01-22. https://urban1.com/radio-one/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[652] Standard Terms and Conditions ('STACs') for Urban One, Radio One & Reach Media Sales Agreement. Urban One, Inc., 2026-08-17. https://urban1.com/advertising-sales-terms-and-conditions/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[653] R1 Digital Solutions (Urban One digital agency) home page. Urban One, Inc. (R1 Digital). https://r1digitalsolutions.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[654] YouTube audio ads (Display & Video 360 Help). Google. https://support.google.com/displayvideo/answer/10407880?hl=en Accessed 2026-09-29.

[655] How to activate the ads on your podcast (Spreaker Help Center). Spreaker Inc., 2025-09-10. https://help.spreaker.com/en/articles/4118800-how-to-activate-the-ads-on-your-podcast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[656] Introducing TAP Programmatic. Triton Digital, 2026-09-25. https://help.tritondigital.com/docs/introducing-tap-programmatic.md Accessed 2026-09-29.

[657] Cumulus Media Inc., et al. chapter 11 case information page. Verita Global (claims and noticing agent). https://www.veritaglobal.net/cumulusmedia Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[658] DAX US: Streaming Publishers. DAX US, 2022-08-08. https://dax.global.com/us/digital-audio-advertising/streaming-audio-publishers/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[659] DAX Audio Brand Safety (one-page PDF). Global / DAX, 2025-06-03. https://global.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/DAX-Audio-Brand-Safety-One-Page.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[660] Spotify's new Ad Exchange is open for business (The Trade Desk press room). The Trade Desk press room (reproducing trade coverage), 2025-04-03. https://www.thetradedesk.com/press-room/spotifys-new-ad-exchange Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[661] Exchange Specification for DSPs. Triton Digital, 2023-11-09. https://help.tritondigital.com/docs/triton-digital-exchange-specification-for-dsps.md Accessed 2026-09-29.

[662] Q&A TAP Programmatic (office hours and webinar transcripts). Triton Digital, 2026-05-13. https://help.tritondigital.com/docs/qa-programmatic.md Accessed 2026-09-29.

[663] Triton Digital Help Center documentation index (llms.txt). Triton Digital. https://help.tritondigital.com/llms.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[664] Activate Spotify Ad Analytics Integration (Megaphone Help Center). Megaphone Help Center, 2024-09-26. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/7992113-activate-spotify-ad-analytics-integration Accessed 2026-09-29.

[665] How to Book a Guaranteed Campaign. Megaphone Help Center, 2026-07-15. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/14632737-how-to-book-a-guaranteed-campaign Accessed 2026-09-29.

[666] Audio Advertising and Brand Recall: Why Sound Drives Memory. SiriusXM Media. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/audio-advertising-and-brand-recall-why-sound-drives-memory Accessed 2026-09-28.

[667] US State Privacy Legislation Tracker (web page). IAPP Westin Research Center, 2026-09-08. https://iapp.org/resources/article/us-state-privacy-legislation-tracker/ Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[668] Attorney General Bonta Announces Joint Investigative Privacy Sweep: CO, CT, and CA Investigate Businesses Refusing to Honor Consumers' Right to Opt-Out of the Sale of Their Personal Information. California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, 2025-09-09. https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-joint-investigative-privacy-sweep%C2%A0co-ct-and-ca Accessed 2026-09-28.

[669] Capabilities (Sigma Audio). Sigma Audio Networks, 2026-03-04. https://sigma.audio/capabilities/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[670] MediaCo's Sigma Bows Digital Audio Network (Radio & Television Business Report). Radio & Television Business Report (Adam Jacobson), 2026-03-16. https://rbr.com/mediacos-sigma-bows-digital-audio-network/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[671] IAB 2026 Outlook Study Forecasts 9.5% Growth in U.S. Ad Spend. IAB, 2026-01-28. https://www.iab.com/news/outlook-study-forecasts-9-5-growth-in-u-s-ad-spend/ Accessed 2026-09-28. Access: partial extract.

[672] Triton Digital Terms of Use (Effective Date: October 21, 2025). Ando Media, LLC dba Triton Digital and Triton Digital Canada, Inc., 2025-10-21. https://www.tritondigital.com/terms-of-use Accessed 2026-09-29.

[673] Acast launches first-to-market advertiser-owned first-party data targeting solution (Podnews press-release copy). Acast (press release), 2022-10-25. https://podnews.net/press-release/acast-first-party Accessed 2026-09-29.

[674] How to use audience targeting in podcast advertising. Acast, 2026-07-06. https://www.acast.com/en/news-and-insights/how-to-use-audience-targeting-in-podcast-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[675] Amazon Ads and iHeartMedia Expand Partnership with New Programmatic Audio Offering Through Amazon DSP. iHeartMedia (joint release), undated on page (read 2026-09-29). https://www.iheartmedia.com/press/amazon-ads-and-iheartmedia-expand-partnership-new-programmatic-audio-offering-through-amazon Accessed 2026-09-29.

[676] Amazon DSP unlocks podcast ads with Art19's audience intelligence. PPC Land, 2026 (not recorded; text refers to events of 21 January 2026). https://ppc.land/amazon-dsp-unlocks-podcast-ads-with-art19s-audience-intelligence/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[677] To Lure More Audio Ad Dollars, Audacy Launches Digital Audience Network. Inside Radio (Podcast News Daily), 2022-03-01. https://www.insideradio.com/podcastnewsdaily/to-lure-more-audio-ad-dollars-audacy-launches-digital-audience-network/article_9b23831a-998a-11ec-a6d2-d3f5dca3956a.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[678] Audacy advertising solutions pages: Broadcast and Digital Audio. Audacy, Inc.. https://audacyinc.com/advertising-solutions/broadcast/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[679] Audacy live reads & endorsements (broadcast ad product page). Audacy, Inc., 2024-04-19. https://audacyinc.com/advertising-solutions/broadcast/live-reads/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[680] Audacy Partners With Podscribe to Enhance Attribution Measurement Across Its Digital Audio and Broadcast Portfolio. Audacy, Inc., 2026-01-08. https://audacyinc.com/press/audacy-partners-with-podscribe-to-enhance-attribution-measurement-across-its-digital-audio-and-broadcast-portfolio/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[681] Podcast RSS feeds of the four sellers (Apple iTunes Search API lookups and the feed files). Apple (search API); feed publishers, 2026-09-29. https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=Cumulus+Podcast+Network&media=podcast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[682] About Audacy. Audacy, Inc.. https://audacyinc.com/about/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[683] Audacy and SiriusXM Announce Agreement to Bring Local Sports, News and Talk Brands to SiriusXM. Audacy, Inc. and SiriusXM, 2026-07-21. https://audacyinc.com/press/audacy-and-siriusxm-announce-agreement-to-bring-local-sports-news-and-talk-brands-to-siriusxm/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[684] Audacy markets page. Audacy, Inc., 2024-11-08. https://audacyinc.com/markets/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[685] Audacy Standard Broadcast Advertising Terms and Conditions; Audacy Digital Advertising Terms and Conditions. Audacy, Inc. (Audacy Operations, LLC), 2026-08-11. https://audacyinc.com/digital-advertising-terms-conditions/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[686] Podcast brand safety & suitability report (Audacy with Alter Agents). Audacy, Inc.. https://audacyinc.com/insights/podcast-brand-safety-suitability-report/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[687] Brands Are Safer Than They Think on Podcasts, a Joint Study by Audacy and Alter Agents Finds. Audacy, Inc., 2023-11-08. https://audacyinc.com/press/brands-are-safer-than-they-think-on-podcasts-a-joint-study-by-audacy-and-alter-agents-finds/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[688] Audioboom Help: Add Advertising To Your Podcast (article 360006028478). Audioboom (help centre, Zendesk), 2025-07-16. https://support.audioboom.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006028478-Add-Advertising-To-Your-Podcast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[689] Ad Marketplace Gumball Launches New Contextually Relevant 'Adaptive Ads' Powered by AI. Gumball (press release via Podnews), 2025-06-04. https://podnews.net/press-release/adaptive-ads-gumball Accessed 2026-09-29.

[690] Audioboom Help: IAB 2.1 Podcast Measurement Guidelines (article 360008948377). Audioboom (help centre, Zendesk), 2025-03-06. https://support.audioboom.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008948377 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[691] Veritonic Added to List of Preferred Audio Attribution Partners by Audioboom. Veritonic (press release via Podnews), 2022-10-17. https://podnews.net/press-release/veritonic-audioboom Accessed 2026-09-29.

[692] Audioboom Group plc: Half-Year Report (unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2026). Audioboom Group plc (RNS via Investegate), 2026-07-15. https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/audioboom-group--boom/half-year-report/9668972 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[693] Audioboom launches SHOWCASE podcast ad marketplace. RAIN News, 2021-11. https://rainnews.com/audioboom-launches-showcase-podcast-ad-marketplace/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[694] Audioboom Showcase marketplace (showcase.audioboom.com). Audioboom. https://showcase.audioboom.com/s/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[695] Audioboom Help: About Artificial Content/Traffic (article 27199789020818). Audioboom (help centre, Zendesk), 2025-09-09. https://support.audioboom.com/hc/en-us/articles/27199789020818 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[696] Beasley Standard Advertiser Terms and Conditions. Beasley Media Group, 2025-05. https://advertiseincharlotte.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/fb5a2b1e-6493-41b0-8846-74e5db88df5e.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[697] Beasley Digital Advertising Terms and Conditions (TC7825). Beasley Media Group, 2025-07. https://advertiseincharlotte.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Beasley-Digital-Form-Digital-Advertising-TC7825.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[698] White Label Digital Agency (Beasley Digital). Beasley Digital, undated. https://beasley.digital/white-label-digital-agency/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[699] Advertising (Beasley Media Group corporate advertising page). Beasley Media Group, LLC. https://bbgi.com/advertising/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: access error; text or metadata via another route.

[700] Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026. Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc., 2026-08-14. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099160/000119312526352119/bbgi-20260630.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[701] ads.txt on wmmr.com (93.3 WMMR Philadelphia, Beasley). Beasley Media Group. https://wmmr.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[702] Katz Digital sellers.json (observed file). Katz Digital. https://katzdigital.com/sellers.json Accessed 2026-09-29.

[703] Bonneville International: Client Services. Bonneville International. https://bonneville.com/client-services/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[704] Collaboration means growth for Bonneville (customer story). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/customers/bonneville/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[705] Bonneville: Standard Advertising Terms and Conditions (Advertising Terms of Service). Bonneville International Corporation. https://bonneville.com/advertising-terms-of-service/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[706] August 2026 (7/23 - 8/19) Nielsen Audio PPM Ratings Day 3: Cox Goes 5 For 5 In San Antonio. RadioInsight, 2026-09-10. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/372644/august-2026-7-23-8-19-nielsen-audio-ppm-ratings-day-3-cox-goes-5-for-5-in-san-antonio/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[707] Bonneville Seattle Radio Advertising (media kit). Bonneville Seattle. https://mynorthwest.com/mediakit/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[708] Bonneville International: Markets. Bonneville International. https://bonneville.com/markets/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[709] Bonneville International: Podcasts (KSL Podcasts). Bonneville International. https://bonneville.com/podcasts/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[710] KSL Podcasts home page. KSL Podcasts (Bonneville / KSL). https://kslpodcasts.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[711] KSL Podcasts 'COLD' RSS feed (observation). Observation by this review (feed on feed.cdnstream1.com), 2026-09-23. https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/87/b7/29/87b729c2-017f-43cb-bb5a-be3d8ff5aaf6.xml Accessed 2026-09-29.

[712] CMG Local Solutions: TV & Radio Advertising. Cox Media Group, LLC (CMG Local Solutions). https://www.cmglocalsolutions.com/solutions/tv-radio-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[713] Report: Cox Media Group Owner Exploring $4B Sale. Radio Ink (Streamline Publishing), 2025-03-22. https://radioink.com/2025/03/22/report-cox-media-group-owner-exploring-4b-sale/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[714] Cox Media Group Sells Its Tulsa Radio Stations. Radio & Television Business Report, 2025-05-19. https://rbr.com/cox-media-group-sells-its-tulsa-radio-stations/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[715] Cumulus Media New Holdings Inc. v. The Nielsen Company (US), LLC, No. 26-88 (2d Cir. decided 13 July 2026), opinion text. United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (text as reproduced by FindLaw), 2026-07-13. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/217928.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[716] Cumulus Faces Months Without Nielsen Ratings As Legal Fight Drags On. Inside Radio, 2026-02-17. https://www.insideradio.com/free/cumulus-faces-months-without-nielsen-ratings-as-legal-fight-drags-on/article_a9036435-82c4-4472-ad91-5b0d00c5cdac.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[717] Cumulus Media advertising solutions pages (Local, Network, Digital and Podcast Solutions). Cumulus Media, 2026-09-25. https://www.cumulusmedia.com/advertising/local-solutions/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[718] SEC Division of Corporation Finance comment letter to Cumulus Media Inc. on the FY2023 Form 10-K. US Securities and Exchange Commission, 2024-05-10. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1058623/000000000024005327/filename2.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[719] Cumulus Podcast Network to Provide Brand Safety & Suitability Measurement Through Barometer. Cumulus Media, 2023-11-29. https://www.cumulusmedia.com/2023/11/29/cumulus-podcast-network-to-provide-brand-safety-suitability-measurement-through-barometer/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[720] Cumulus Will Use Barometer for Podcast Brand Safety. Radio World, 2023-11-29. https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/products/cumulus-will-use-barometer-for-podcast-brand-safety Accessed 2026-09-28.

[721] DAX US: Podcasts. DAX US, 2022-08-10. https://dax.global.com/us/digital-audio-advertising/podcast-advertising/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[722] DAX US: Programmatic. DAX US, 2022-06-08. https://dax.global.com/us/digital-audio-advertising/programmatic-advertising/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[723] Why Measurement Is The Key To Solving Digital Audio's Scalability Challenge (by Andrew Byrd for AdExchanger, reposted by DAX US). AdExchanger article as reposted on DAX US news, 2026-06-26. https://dax.global.com/us/news/why-measurement-is-the-key-to-solving-digital-audios-scalability-challenge/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[724] accuradio.com ads.txt (observed). AccuRadio. https://www.accuradio.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[725] ads.txt files observed: thisisdax.com, deezer.com, liveone.com, accuradio.com, live365.com. publishers' own files, observed by this review, 2026-09-29. https://www.deezer.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[726] Global Media & Entertainment Limited (company 06251684): Group of companies' accounts made up to 31 March 2025. Global Media & Entertainment Limited (Companies House filing), 2025-12-22. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06251684/filing-history Accessed 2026-09-29.

[727] Captivate & DAX US Launch Unified Monetization Suite for US Creators. DAX US (Ben Dodd), 2026-05-18. https://dax.global.com/us/news/captivate-dax-us-launch-unified-monetization-suite-for-us-creators/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[728] DAX Signs Sounder To Provide Automated Brand Safety Verification for Podcast Advertisers. DAX US (Global release), 2022-08-08. https://dax.global.com/us/news/dax-signs-sounder-to-provide-automated-brand-safety-verification-for-podcast-advertisers/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[729] How Programmatic Audio Ads Help Expand Your Reach. Hubbard Chicago, 2023-08-28. https://hubbardchicago.com/how-programmatic-audio-ads-help-expand-your-reach/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[730] Hubbard - Media That Connects: home page. Hubbard Radio, LLC d/b/a Hubbard Media That Connects. https://hubbardconnects.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[731] Gamut Podcast Network: home page. Hubbard Podcasts, LLC. https://www.gamutpodcasts.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[732] Hubbard Broadcasting: Gamut Podcast Network company page. Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.. https://hubbardbroadcasting.com/company/gamut-podcast-network/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[733] WTOP News: Advertise. WTOP (Hubbard Radio). https://wtop.com/advertise/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[734] Gamut Podcast Network RSS feeds (observation): Profiling Evil, Professor of Rock; plus Apple iTunes Search API lookups. Observation by this review (feeds published via ART19). https://rss.art19.com/profiling-evil ; https://rss.pdrl.fm/eb47a0/rss.art19.com/professor-of-rock ; https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=Gamut Accessed 2026-09-29.

[735] Gamut Podcast Network feeds (additional observation): American Nightmares, Mischke, The Rizzuto Show, Garage Logic, The OLine Committee, Hits Differently, American Afterlife, UAP Investigates, Women In Charge; Apple iTunes Search API term=Gamut. Observation by this verifier (ART19 and feeds.hubbardpodcasts.com). https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=Gamut Accessed 2026-09-29.

[736] Hubbard Radio Enters a New Era with 'Media That Connects' (press release). Hubbard Radio, LLC, 2026-06-01. https://hubbardconnects.com/press-release/hubbard-radio-enters-a-new-era-with-media-that-connects/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[737] Hubbard Connects Its Future to More Than Over-the-Air Radio. Radio Ink (Streamline Publishing), 2026-06-02. https://radioink.com/2026/06/02/hubbard-connects-its-future-to-more-than-over-the-air-radio/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[738] Hubbard: Our Brands (station list by market). Hubbard Radio, LLC. https://hubbardconnects.com/our-brands/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[739] Participating Publishers: Publishers with Inventory in the Triton Audio Marketplace. Triton Digital. https://www.tritondigital.com/integrations/publishers-triton-marketplace Accessed 2026-09-29.

[740] Hubbard Radio Runs The Gamut Of Audio With New Podcast Arm. Radio Ink (Streamline Publishing), 2025-03-31. https://radioink.com/2025/03/31/hubbard-radio-runs-the-gamut-of-audio-with-new-podcast-arm/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[741] TLS certificate observation for www.iheartadbuilder.com. Verifier observation (openssl s_client and curl), 2026-09-29. https://www.iheartadbuilder.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[742] iHeartMedia Debuts Improved Brand Safety Tech. Adweek, 2023-02-27. https://www.adweek.com/programmatic/iheartmedia-brand-safety-tech/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[743] Include Ads in Your Libsyn Podcast (Libsyn 5 help article 8661104385563). Liberated Syndication (Libsyn help centre, Zendesk), 2026-08-23. https://five.libsynsupport.com/hc/en-us/articles/8661104385563-Include-Ads-in-Your-Libsyn-Podcast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[744] What's working in podcast advertising right now: insights from Libsyn Ads at Podcast Movement Evolutions. Libsyn, 2025-04-04. https://libsyn.com/blog/whats-working-in-podcast-advertising-right-now-insights-from-libsyn-ads-at-podcast-movement-evolutions/ Accessed 2026-09-28.

[745] About Libsyn Ads. Libsyn Ads. https://advertising.libsyn.com/about-us Accessed 2026-09-29.

[746] Libsyn: IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Independent Certification report, Compliance Certification Guidelines v2.2. IAB Tech Lab certificate file for Libsyn, 2025-10-31. https://compliance.iabtechnologylab.com/compliant-companies-certificates/Libsyn%20-%20IAB%20Podcast%20Measurement%20Report_11.17.2025.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[747] Automatic Podcast Ads FAQ: 10 Common Questions Answered About Earning with Programmatic Ads (Libsyn blog). Liberated Syndication (Libsyn), 2025-06-11. https://libsyn.com/blog/automatic-podcast-ads-faq-10-common-questions-answered-about-earning-with-programmatic-ads/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[748] RSS feed: Ebro in the Morning Podcast (HOT 97). HOT 97 (hosted on Omny Studio), 2026-07-29. https://www.omnycontent.com/d/playlist/13bb36d4-1115-40cb-af92-acdf0146c19f/14d9269d-2eb3-47a0-a3e8-ad32015e95f8/1271d102-3b1e-4870-ab38-ad32015eb348/podcast.rss Accessed 2026-09-29.

[749] ads.txt on hot97.com and wbls.com (MediaCo). MediaCo. https://hot97.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[750] Podcast Sponsorship (National Public Media). National Public Media, 2026-09-16. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/sponsorship/podcast-sponsorship/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[751] Products: NPR Programmatic Audio (SSP, DSP-by-deal-type table, deal options, inventory, targeting, creative approval). National Public Media, 2026-06-17. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/products/npr-programmatic-audio/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[752] Products: Radio Credit - Local (spot radio on member stations). National Public Media, 2026-09-22. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/products/radio-credit-local/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[753] Products: Podcast Mid-roll (specs: baked-in, dynamic, host-read). National Public Media, 2026-05-27. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/products/mid-roll/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[754] NPM Creative (National Public Media). National Public Media, 2026-05-28. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/npm-creative/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[755] Products: all formats (National Public Media). National Public Media, 2026-04-10. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/products/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[756] NPR Sponsor Guidelines (National Public Media). National Public Media, 2026-03-17. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/npr-sponsor-guidelines/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[757] Understanding measurement tools to maximize NPR campaign impact. National Public Media, 2025-03-25. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/insights/articles/understanding-measurement-tools-to-maximize-impact/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[758] Measurement & Research (National Public Media). National Public Media, 2025-09-08. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/measurement-research/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[759] Products: Radio Credit - Network. National Public Media, 2026-03-17. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/products/broadcast-credit-national/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[760] National Public Media Terms of Use Agreement (updated August 4, 2022). National Public Media LLC, 2022-08-04. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/terms-of-use/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[761] National Public Radio, Inc. and Subsidiaries: Consolidated Financial Statements as of and for the years ended September 30, 2025 and 2024 (audited, BDO USA, P.C.). National Public Radio, Inc., 2026-01-30. https://media.npr.org/documents/about/statements/National%20Public%20Radio,%20Inc.%202025%20Audited%20Consolidated%20Financial%20Statements.pdf Accessed 2026-09-29.

[762] npr.org ads.txt (observed). NPR (publisher file), observed by this review, 2026-09-29. https://www.npr.org/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[763] NPR podcast RSS feeds observed: Up First (feeds.npr.org/510318/podcast.xml) and Planet Money (feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml). this review (observation of NPR's published feeds), 2026-09-29. https://feeds.npr.org/510318/podcast.xml Accessed 2026-09-29.

[764] NPR Radio sponsorship (National Public Media). National Public Media, 2026-09-16. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/sponsorship/radio-sponsorship/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[765] New study finds NPR news podcasts are significantly safer for brands than average. National Public Media, 2024-01-09. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/insights/articles/new-study-finds-npr-news-podcasts-are-significantly-safer-for-brands-than-average/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[766] Odeeo and Claritas Launch Pioneering In-Game Audio Partnership. Sonic Odeeo Ltd., 2025-08-05. https://blog.odeeo.io/odeeo-and-claritas-launch-pioneering-in-game-audio-partnership Accessed 2026-09-29.

[767] So You're Looking to Get Started with In Game Advertising. Sonic Odeeo Ltd., 2023-10-24. https://blog.odeeo.io/so-youre-looking-to-get-started-with-in-game-advertising Accessed 2026-09-29.

[768] Revolutionizing In-Game Audio Monetization with the Odeeo Portal. Sonic Odeeo Ltd., 2024-03-18. https://blog.odeeo.io/revolutionizing-in-game-audio-monetization-with-the-odeeo-portal Accessed 2026-09-29.

[769] Microsoft Advertising is closing the Xandr DSP, layoffs pending. Digiday, 2025-05-14. https://digiday.com/media-buying/microsoft-advertising-is-closing-the-xandr-dsp/ Accessed 2026-09-29. Access: partial extract.

[770] TAG Registry lookup for TAG-ID 52ded3ee71b94c84 (the TAG-ID in AdsWizz's sellers.json). Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). https://www.tagtoday.net/registry-search Accessed 2026-09-29.

[771] Apple iTunes Search API results for sample show names (feedUrl field). Apple Inc. (public podcast directory API). https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=Adam%20Carolla%20Show Accessed 2026-09-29.

[772] Apple iTunes Search API re-query (Adam Carolla Show, Jordan Harbinger Show, Cold Case Files, LadyGang, Get Sleepy). Apple Inc.. https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=Jordan%20Harbinger%20Show Accessed 2026-09-29.

[773] LiveOne's PodcastOne Partners with AI-Driven Seekr. LiveOne, Inc. / PodcastOne (press release via Podnews; also GlobeNewswire), 2023-03-10. https://podnews.net/press-release/liveone-seekr Accessed 2026-09-29.

[774] Saga Communications, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026. Saga Communications, Inc., 2026-08-14. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/886136/000110465926097036/sga-20260630x10q.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[775] ads.txt on sagacom.com (identical file served at wklh.com and sunny95.com). Saga Communications. https://sagacom.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[776] What Is Programmatic Audio and How Does this Type of Targeting Work? (Salem Surround). Salem Surround (Salem Media), undated. https://salemsurround.com/digital-marketing-solutions/programmatic-audio/what-is-programmatic-audio-and-how-does-this-type-of-targeting-work Accessed 2026-09-29.

[777] RSS feed: The Hugh Hewitt Show: Highly Concentrated (Salem Podcast Network). Salem Podcast Network (hosted on Omny Studio), 2026-09-28. https://www.omnycontent.com/d/playlist/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/32413cd1-5c42-4309-8dd3-a8400005b231/f78a8a7c-86bf-4bdf-8b40-a8400005b231/podcast.rss Accessed 2026-09-29.

[778] Advertise (Salem Media). Salem Media. https://salemmedia.com/advertise/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[779] Advertise on our Network (Salem Podcast Network). Salem Podcast Network, undated. https://salempodcastnetwork.com/content/all/advertise-on-our-network Accessed 2026-09-29.

[780] About Salem Podcast Network; Advertise on our Network. Salem Podcast Network. https://salempodcastnetwork.com/all/about-salem-podcast-network Accessed 2026-09-29.

[781] ads.txt on salemmedia.com. Salem Media. https://salemmedia.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[782] Amazon Ads and SiriusXM Media Announce New Programmatic Audio Offering Through Amazon DSP. Sirius XM Holdings Inc., 2025-09-16. https://investor.siriusxm.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2206/amazon-ads-and-siriusxm-media-announce-new-programmatic Accessed 2026-09-29.

[783] TelevisaUnivision and Nielsen Agree to New Media Intelligence Deal Covering Streaming, National and Local TV, and Radio. TelevisaUnivision, 2026-04-02. https://corporate.televisaunivision.com/press/2026/04/02/televisaunivision-and-nielsen-agree-to-new-media-intelligence-deal-covering-streaming-national-and-local-tv-and-radio/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[784] Nielsen Reissuing February 2026 Reports Following TelevisaUnivision Renewal. Inside Radio, 2026-04-07. https://www.insideradio.com/free/nielsen-reissuing-february-2026-reports-following-televisaunivision-renewal/article_b1339ab1-c727-4a69-b45e-5806cfd5e285.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[785] Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. Annual Report on Form 20-F for fiscal year 2025 (accession 0001104659-26-052976). Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., 2026-04-30. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/912892/000110465926052976/tv-20251231x20f.htm Accessed 2026-09-29.

[786] Uforia Podcasts RSS feeds (observation): El Gordo y La Flaca, Noticias Univision; plus Apple iTunes Search API lookups. Observation by this review (feeds on feeds.simplecast.com). https://feeds.simplecast.com/WafeeJ3w ; https://feeds.simplecast.com/Xvu_CcO_ ; https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=Uforia Accessed 2026-09-29.

[787] Our Solutions - Townsquare Ignite. Townsquare Media (Townsquare Ignite). https://townsquareignite.com/solutions/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[788] Townsquare ads.txt files (townsquaremedia.com; wnbf.com station site). Townsquare Media, 2026-09-29. https://www.townsquaremedia.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[789] Urban One ads.txt files (urban1.com, hotspotatl.com; ione-adstxt S3 file for ionedigital.com). Urban One (Interactive One), 2026-09-29. https://urban1.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[790] Urban One Podcast Network (brand page). Urban One, Inc., 2025-07-03. https://urban1.com/vtq-portfolio/urban-one-podcast-network/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[791] Urban One - Media GrowthFronts (AIMM/ANA directory submission). Urban One, Inc. (submitted to ANA AIMM GrowthFronts), 2026-02-18. https://aimmgrowthfronts.com/dotm-submissions/urban-one/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[792] AudioServe Campaign Manager (AdsWizz publisher page). AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/publishers/campaign-management/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[793] AdsWizz SDK is First to be Certified for Audibility by IAB Tech Lab (AdsWizz press release). AdsWizz Inc., 2021-02-17. https://www.adswizz.com/adswizz-sdk-is-first-to-be-certified-for-audibility-by-iab-tech-lab/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[794] Ad Insertion Suite and SDK (AdsWizz publisher page). AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/publishers/insertion-suite/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[795] Unleashing the Power of Programmatic Guaranteed in Audio Advertising (AdsWizz blog). AdsWizz Inc., 2024-05-13. https://www.adswizz.com/unleashing-the-power-of-programmatic-guaranteed-in-audio-advertising/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[796] AdsWizz Platform Policy (privacy practices of the AdsWizz Platforms), effective 21 August 2025. AdsWizz Inc., 2025-08-21. https://www.adswizz.com/platform-policy/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[797] About AdsWizz. AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/about/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[798] Marketplace (AdsWizz publisher page). AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/publishers/marketplace/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[799] Marketplace (AdsWizz podcaster page). AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/podcasters/marketplace/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[800] Marketplace (AdsWizz advertiser page). AdsWizz Inc.. https://www.adswizz.com/advertisers/marketplace/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[801] AdsWizz Now Integrated With Google Display and Video 360 (press release, Podnews copy). AdsWizz (release); Podnews (host), 2018-11-20. https://podnews.net/press-release/adswizz-google Accessed 2026-09-29.

[802] How Do I Geo-Target Line Items?. ART19 Help Center, 2023-04-18 (updated 2026-09-14). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/14966944843661 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[803] Device Targeting / How Can I Target Listening Platforms?. ART19 Help Center, 2021-06-04 (updated 2026-06-29 and 2026-07-23). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402423511693 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[804] How To Use Episode Targeting / Positional Targeting. ART19 Help Center, 2024-11-21 (updated 2026-07-23); positional article 2025-11-10. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/32082616754701 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[805] Does ART19 offer episode Transcripts?. ART19 Help Center, 2023-04-07 (updated 2026-07-23). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/14655249527053 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[806] How Does ART19 Measure Downloads, Impressions, & Listeners? / ART19 Measurement Document of Methodology. ART19 Help Center, 2025-10-15 (updated 2026-07-15); DOM article 2024-12-09 (updated 2026-07-24, id 32559178755725). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/40367569337485 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[807] Setting Up 3rd Party Measurement - DoubleVerify. ART19 Help Center, 2020-11-23 (updated 2026-07-15). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052417952 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[808] How does ART19 choose between multiple line items?. ART19 Help Center, updated 2026-07-23. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/47379651925901 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[809] Using External Channels to create VAST line item connections / What is AdsWizz Multi-Ad VAST. ART19 Help Center, 2020-09-25 (updated 2026-07-24); AdsWizz article 2026-07-15. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049694912 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[810] Ad Ops Statistics / Line Item Statistics. ART19 Help Center, updated 2026-06-29; line item article updated 2026-08-17. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047806171 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[811] Custom Reports. ART19 Help Center, 2026-05-12 (updated 2026-09-07). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/45806077442061 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[812] Data Exports. ART19 Help Center, 2019-02-22 (updated 2026-06-29). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024144612 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[813] Using the ART19 API / Requesting an API credential. ART19 Help Center, 2025-12-04 (updated 2026-07-24); credential article 2026-03-02. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/41669820164109 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[814] ART19 Help Center home page (footer). ART19, live page (read 2026-09-29). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us Accessed 2026-09-29.

[815] Simplecast (Podnews directory entry, with linked news items). Podnews LLC. https://podnews.net/directory/company/simplecast Accessed 2026-09-29.

[816] What are HLS Downloads? / How are HLS Downloads different from MP3 Downloads? / ART19 Video Beta Onboarding Guide. ART19 Help Center, 2026-07-14 (updated 2026-08-27); video beta guide 2026-02-25. https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/47355210858765 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[817] Measurement Certification: IABv2.2. ART19 Help Center, 2021-10-21 (updated 2026-07-23). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411808962957 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[818] Complete Your Brand Approvals. ART19 Help Center, 2024-11-11 (updated 2026-07-24). https://art19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/31798759659021 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[819] Dynamic Ad Insertion for Podcasts (Omny Studio documentation). Triton Digital help centre (Omny Studio section), 2026-05-20. https://help.tritondigital.com/docs/advertising-on-podcasts-in-omny-studio Accessed 2026-09-29.

[820] Omny Studio Terms of Service. 121cast Pty Ltd and its Affiliates ("Omny Studio"), published on tritondigital.com, 2023-09-19. https://www.tritondigital.com/omny-studio-terms-of-service Accessed 2026-09-29.

[821] Omny Studio Analytics and Podcast Metrics. Triton Digital help centre (Omny Studio section), 2025-03-07. https://help.tritondigital.com/docs/omny-studio-analytics-and-podcast-metrics Accessed 2026-09-29.

[822] Omny Studio Management API Documentation v1 (ReDoc page and its swagger.json). Omny Studio (Triton Digital). https://api.omnystudio.com/docs/management-api-v1/index.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[823] Export Analytics from Omny Studio. Triton Digital help centre (Omny Studio section), 2026-01-15. https://help.tritondigital.com/docs/export-analytics-from-omny-studio Accessed 2026-09-29.

[824] Listen Notes Podcast Stats (JSON), table top_rss_hosting_domains. Listen Notes, 2026-09-26. https://www.listennotes.com/podcast-stats.json Accessed 2026-09-29.

[825] Triton Digital Launches Feed Drops & Multi-Step Scheduler for Omny Studio (press release). Triton Digital, 2025-02-26. https://tritondigital.com/press-releases/February-26-2025/triton-digital-launches-feed-drops-multi-step-scheduler-for-omny-studio Accessed 2026-09-29.

[826] omny.fm ads.txt (observed file). Omny Studio (Triton Digital). https://omny.fm/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[827] soundstack.com ads.txt (observed file). SoundStack, Inc.. https://www.soundstack.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[828] How to Add an Analytics Prefix URL to your RSS Feed; Chartable Shutdown: What You Need to Do (Simplecast Help Center). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast, 2024-12-12. https://help.simplecast.com/hc/en-us/articles/21953546559901-How-to-Add-an-Analytics-Prefix-URL-to-your-RSS-Feed Accessed 2026-09-29.

[829] Simplecast API (help article) and the public Simplecast API documentation (Postman collection). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast, 2025-06-05. https://apidocs.simplecast.com/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[830] Simplecast API Postman collection (JSON behind apidocs.simplecast.com). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast. https://apidocs.simplecast.com/api/collections/10068189/T1DsAGJy?environment=8772875-0af62042-2b99-470c-8cdc-df8cd9c2cead&segregateAuth=true&versionTag=latest Accessed 2026-09-29.

[831] How to Create Content Reports; NOW AVAILABLE: A redesigned reporting experience; Product Updates 2026 (Simplecast Help Center). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast, 2026-08-20. https://help.simplecast.com/hc/en-us/articles/37607152199197-NOW-AVAILABLE-A-redesigned-reporting-experience Accessed 2026-09-29.

[832] Simplecast Features (Podcast Management & Monetization). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast. https://www.simplecast.com/features Accessed 2026-09-29.

[833] Podcast Stats: How many podcasts are there? (Markdown export, Top RSS Hosting Domains). Listen Notes, Inc., 2026-09-26. https://www.listennotes.com/podcast-stats.md Accessed 2026-09-29.

[834] Simplecast Analytics Overview; Unique Listeners (Simplecast Help Center). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast, 2024-12-04. https://help.simplecast.com/hc/en-us/articles/21960678561309-Simplecast-Analytics-Overview Accessed 2026-09-29.

[835] [ENTERPRISE FEATURE] Podcast Consent Manager (Simplecast Help Center). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast, 2026-05-19. https://help.simplecast.com/hc/en-us/articles/29706101827229--ENTERPRISE-FEATURE-Podcast-Consent-Manager Accessed 2026-09-29.

[836] IAB 101 (Simplecast Help Center). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast, 2024-10-09. https://help.simplecast.com/hc/en-us/articles/21953648221213-IAB-101 Accessed 2026-09-29.

[837] simplecast.com ads.txt (observed file). Audios Ventures, Inc. d/b/a Simplecast. https://www.simplecast.com/ads.txt Accessed 2026-09-29.

[838] Audio ad marketplace - SoundStack (Marketplace product page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/advertising-monetization/marketplace/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[839] Direct Ads - SoundStack (product page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/advertising-monetization/direct-ads/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[840] SoundStack Marketplace Inventory Addendum. SoundStack, Inc., 2025-08-05. https://soundstack.com/marketplace-inventory-addendum/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[841] Barometer and SoundStack Partner to Enhance Audio Ad Marketplace. SoundStack and Barometer (PR Newswire), 2024-07-16. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/barometer-and-soundstack-partner-to-enhance-audio-ad-marketplace-302197088.html Accessed 2026-09-29.

[842] IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Independent Certification: SoundStack (report). IAB Technology Laboratory (IAB Tech Lab), 2026-03-27. https://compliance.iabtechnologylab.com/compliant-companies-certificates/SoundStack_IAB%20Podcast%20Measurement%20Report_03.27.2026.pdf Accessed 2026-09-28.

[843] Connectors - SoundStack (product page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/advertising-monetization/connectors/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[844] SoundStack Marketplace as a service (landing page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/landing-pages/marketplace-as-a-service/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[845] Ad Control - SoundStack (product page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/pages/ad-control/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[846] Podcast hosting and advertising - SoundStack (Podcasting product page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/hosting-delivery/podcasting/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[847] Audience Analytics - SoundStack (product page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/insights-reporting/audience-analytics/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[848] SoundStack General Terms and Conditions. SoundStack, Inc., 2025-08-05. https://soundstack.com/general-terms-and-conditions/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[849] About us - SoundStack. SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/about/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[850] SoundStack for Buy-side Partners (solutions page). SoundStack, Inc.. https://soundstack.com/solutions/buy-side-partners/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[851] Live365 Is Now Part of SoundStack!. Live365 (a SoundStack company), 2022-04-21. https://live365.com/blog/live365-is-now-part-of-soundstack/ Accessed 2026-09-29.

[852] Manage the Inventory Planning Page. Megaphone Help Center, 2025-03-20. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/71431-manage-the-inventory-page Accessed 2026-09-29.

[853] Megaphone API (help article) and Megaphone Developer Hub. Megaphone Help Center, 2024-04-11. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/2247461-megaphone-api Accessed 2026-09-29.

[854] Breaking API Changes: Direct Sales Endpoints. Megaphone Help Center, 2026-04-15. https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/14632866-breaking-api-changes-direct-sales-endpoints Accessed 2026-09-29.

[855] Megaphone by Spotify: Platform page. Megaphone by Spotify. https://megaphone.spotify.com/platform Accessed 2026-09-29.

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[857] Spreaker Monetization - The Ad Exchange (Spreaker Help Center). Spreaker Inc., 2024-11-28. https://help.spreaker.com/en/articles/3753298-spreaker-monetization-the-ad-exchange Accessed 2026-09-29.

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