Podcast fans aren’t really listening to ads

UK podcast fans are increasingly likely to find ads intrusive, with two in five skipping them entirely, according to research from YouGov Profiles. 

Why podcast ads matters

Podcast audiences are growing and advertising spend is following, with previous research indicating that listeners show greater engagement with ad content and are more receptive than TV audiences. But that was a couple of years ago. As the podcast ad market has matured, with a rise in programmatic inventory helping move it beyond host-read ads, the podcast experience has changed – and not necessarily to the benefit of the listener.

Takeaways

• Two in five (42%) of regular listeners find adverts that are played during a podcast to be intrusive and choose to skip them; four years ago the figure stood at 36%.
• A further one in five (18%) finds ads to be intrusive, but listen to them anyway (vs. 17% in 2019).
• 14% say they do not find them intrusive but they also don’t find them particularly interesting (compared to 17% in 2019).
• Just one in seven (14%) say they do not find them intrusive and do find them interesting (vs. 11% in 2019), and a further 6% say they don’t listen to podcasts with ads at all (vs. 15% in 2019).

Sourced from YouGov Profiles