Why the Future of Podcast Ads Belongs to Audience Data with Matt Shapo & Jason Adamski of IAB

Where is the money in podcasting really going—and how is ad measurement evolving to keep up?

In this episode of PodBiz, Norma Jean Belenky and John Kiernan sit down with Matt Shapo, Senior Director of the Measurement Center at IAB, and Jason Adamski, Director of Audio at IAB, for their very first in-person recording at the IAB Lab in New York City.

Matt and Jason break down spending trends across top shows versus programmatic audience buying, the friction between downloads, plays, and engaged views, and how new IAB standards are helping creators and advertisers measure real ad performance.

As Matt puts it:

“To me, the most exciting thing moving forward is the fact that we can now actually bring the evidence. We can measure the response that those consumers have to ads that are in podcasts at a level that we never could.”

Here are some insightful moments within the episode:

• Where podcast ad dollars are moving beyond top-tier household names

• The difference between traditional downloads, client-side plays, and YouTube views

• How programmatic buying opens up monetization for the long tail of podcasts

• Why IAB Tech Lab is bringing the AMP Accords under its technical working group

• Bringing podcast ad exposure into broader omnichannel marketing mix models

• How measurement is evolving from brand sentiment to hard performance outcomes

Matt Shapo is the Senior Director of the Measurement Center at IAB, bringing nearly two decades of audio industry, news, and data experience from All Access Music Group.

Jason Adamski is the Director of Audio at IAB, with 30 years of buy-side and client-side experience, including roles as North American Media Director for Ferrero and Media Director at Sam Adams.

Together, they work to build consensus and measurement standards that elevate the entire digital audio and podcasting advertising ecosystem.

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattshapo/

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-adamski-034822/

Learn more at IAB: www.iab.com

Episode Chapters

00:00 Intro Where is the money in podcasting?

01:48 Programmatic buying & long-tail audience growth

05:00 The role of IAB & IAB Tech Lab in setting standards

06:09 The history and evolution of the podcast download metric

08:00 Downloads vs. plays vs. YouTube’s engaged views

09:15 New IAB guidance: When listeners become viewers

10:13 Mid-roll sponsor break: Lean & Loaf

11:05 The shift to video consumption & play-based telemetry

16:08 Why video augments, rather than replaces, the podcast industry

20:41 Mid-roll sponsor break: podSEO

21:22 Navigating omnichannel measurement & media interoperability

24:25 Integrating the AMP Accords into IAB Tech Lab

29:20 Matt and Jason’s backgrounds in audio & buy-side media

32:11 Open doors & educational initiatives at IAB

35:33 The future of podcast ad measurement & proving ROI

Some Additional PodBiz Buzz…

“If you want to move fast, move alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

“When you add podcasting to your media mix, you not only can have faith in a general way, but actually the ability to intelligently evaluate the outcomes.”

“To have a world in which people have the ability to access content in a more varied and comprehensive fashion is a good thing.”

PodBiz is the podcast about the business of podcasting. Hosted by industry veterans Norma Jean Belenky and John Kiernan, the show features conversations with creators, executives, and platform leaders to answer one question: Where’s the money in podcasting?

Each episode dives into monetization strategy, adtech, branded content, IP development, and audience growth. Guests include leaders from Acast, Captivate, Crooked Media, Buzzsprout, True Native Media, Podfest, and more.

Learn more: njbmedia.co | thepodhouseproductions.com

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