Spotify Acquires Podsights And Chartable For More Effective Ad Penetration

Spotify has been working to modernize podcast advertising through new features. (photo; doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Spotify Inc is now continuing to deepen its investment in podcasting by acquiring Podsights and Chartable, Wednesday, February 16. The two services are believed by the Swedish company to provide greater insight for advertisers and podcasting publishers.

Podsights help marketers to be able to measure the effectiveness of their ads. This is an area that Spotify says has been their biggest challenge so far. Chartables in turn provide audience insights that help podcast publishers measure the effectiveness of their growth campaigns over the years.

"Our acquisition of podcast technology players Podsights and Chartable is very helpful in our efforts to increase digital audio measurement insights," said Khurrum Malik, head of advertising business marketing at Spotify as quoted by Reuters.

Stockholm-based Spotify has invested heavily in podcasts. Unlike the music business, which is mostly a commodity and low margins because it pays a portion of the revenue to rights holders, podcasts engage listeners for hours on end. This has created a valuable ad inventory that has supported investor optimism on Wall Street over the app's long-term future.

Since announcing its "Audio-First" initiative in 2019, signaling its push into podcasting, Spotify has acquired podcast networks such as Gimlet Media and Anchor. They've even struck exclusive deals with popular personalities including Joe Rogan and "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper. Spotify is also investing in the underlying technology.

Rogan himself has now emerged as Spotify's most popular podcaster in 90 markets, even as he has become an antidote to criticism for views on COVID-19 and the use of racist language. But he has apologized and more than 100 episodes of his show have been removed from podcasts on Spotify.

Spotify has been working to modernize podcast advertising through features such as real-time ad insertion and acquisitions such as Megaphone, which helps podcast publishers get more out of their content. It is expected to capture part of the $2 billion that eMarketer predicts will flow into podcasting by 2023.

"We are excited to bring this service to advertisers across the United States," said Malik. "But then we want to expand their reach to the international market."