The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s IAB Tech Lab has released its Podcast Measurement Compliance Program, certifying companies that meet specific criteria.
The first two companies to be certified under the program are National Public Radio and Rawvoice/Blubrry. Companies can be certified if they adhere to the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines, released one year ago.
As podcasts increase in popularity with both listeners and marketers, publishers and measurement companies have sought more granular data to better enable monetization.
The IAB Tech Lab’s Podcast Measurement Compliance Program is meant to ensure there is a “base set of principles that any measurement system should support,” and establishes a common set of advertising metrics.
Specifically, the guidelines include metrics around downloads, listeners, and ad delivery.
NPR, which counts many of its shows as among the most popular podcasts in the market, last week announced the release of its open-sourced podcast analytics technology, Remote Audio Data (RAD).
In the case of both RAD and the IAB Tech Lab’s compliance program, the hope is that better standards and data will enable podcast publishers to monetize more efficiently.
"According to the latest IAB/PwC study, podcast advertising is estimated to hit revenues of $402 million this year alone, and the marketplace is growing very rapidly, despite measurement hurdles," says Dennis Buchheim, senior vice president-GM of the IAB Tech Lab.
"To continue this growth, measurement practices need to become consistent, accurate and meaningful. The Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines and Compliance Program help get us closer to this goal," he adds.