NEW YORK: Podcast advertising revenues in the US are forecast to reach more than $220m in 2017, a huge increase of 85% on the $119m recorded in 2016, a new study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has revealed.

Conducted in partnership with PwC US, the professional services firm, the research also found that podcast ad revenues grew 73% between 2015 and 2016.

The IAB said the joint study was informed by data compiled directly from 20 of the largest podcast companies, including industry publishers and ad networks, such as Acast, Gimlet Media and Public Media Marketing.

Combined with responses from a quantitative survey, the findings led the IAB and PwC US to conclude that podcast advertising has emerged as one of the industry's "most dynamic areas".

"The IAB Podcast Advertising Revenue Study proves two things – the whole world is listening, and brands are taking notice," said Randall Rothenberg, the IAB's President and CEO.

"From the remarkable growth of podcast ad revenue, we're seeing an ancient axiom being proved yet again: great rewards go to those who surprise and delight their fellow humans," he added.

"These findings confirm that podcasting is experiencing impressive year-over-year growth, and we can expect even more gains on the horizon," said David Silverman, a Partner at PwC US. "The study also identifies key trends that should be on marketers' radar screens."

These trends include the finding that in both 2015 and 2016 marketers preferred ads read by podcast hosts rather than those that were pre-produced.

Also, even though last year saw more revenue generated by dynamically inserted ads for the first time, direct response campaigns continued to be the most prevalent campaign type, with brand awareness and branded content campaigns increasing from 2015 to 2016.

The latest research follows publication of the full year 2016 IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, which included the first market sizing of the digital audio space.

That report showed digital audio ad formats brought in revenues of $1.1bn, although it did not include the 2016 revenues from the podcast advertising market.

Data sourced from IAB, PwC US; additional content by WARC staff