Nobody likes to hear ads on podcasts, but let's face it, ads can give podcasters the income they need to get a return on the time and money they spend on podcasting.
An article in today's New York Times examined some initiatives to help standardize and track ads on podcasts, so advertisers can get a better idea of how much exposure their ads are getting. This in turn will give advertisers more of a reason to place ads on podcasts, and thus bring more income to podcasters, so they can keep doing podcasting. (It's always sad to see a good podcaster stop because he or she couldn't keep spending the time and money to produce their program while holding down a regular job.)
Several developments are in the offing, including improvements in delivering and tracking ads, and the formation of a new industry group, the Association for Downloadable Media, which seeks to "help executives improve methods for creating, distributing, and tracking advertisements in podcasts." About 15 organizations are said to be in the new group, including Apple Inc. and National Public Radio (NPR), which produces dozens of podcasts based on its programming.
Podcasting, and advertising, has a lot of room to grow, as the article points out: only a little more than 10% of all Internet users have listened to a podcast, and the amoutn of money spent on advertising on podcasts was only $80 million last year, a research firm reported.
Let's hope these initiatives mean a long future for podcasting, and some remuneration for podcasters for all the hard work they put into creating their programs.
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