• by Fern Siegel , August 22, 2022

Audio ads — whether in podcasts, music streamers or radio channels — are gaining popularity. Part of the rise is due to the pandemic, which recorded an increase in users.

Digital advertising increased by 35% to reach $189 billion in 2021, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Podcasts have had a major impact on the audio ad marketplace.

At the same time, ResearchandMarkets.com’s “Global Audio Advertising Market – Forecasts from 2022 to 2027” projects a CAGR of 5.07% for the five-year period.

A big plus for audio ad is its appeal to brand advertisers. For example, Spotify added more than 1 million new podcasts in 2021, making it easy for listeners to interact with ads and marketers to enlarge reach.

Also,iHeart announced its plan to launch a new digital ad network. The iHeart Audience Network (iAN) will gather advertising content across streaming and podcasting from the iHeartRadio database and other premium publishers.

IAB reports podcast ad revenue increased by 19% YoY in 2020. Revenues from podcast advertising hit $842 million in 2020, an uptick from  increased $708 million in 2019.

One big caveat: The adoption of ad-blockers may decrease the overall market demand. Per Blockthrough, by the end of 2020, there were 257 million PC ad blockers and 586 million mobile ad blockers.