Sounds Profitable Study Reveals Insights on Ad Skipping, Frequency, and Repetition in Podcast Advertising

Sounds Profitable, the leading voice of significance for the digital audio industry, today announced the release of its latest report, Ad Nauseam: Frequency, Repetition, and Consumer Perceptions of Podcast Advertising. The goals of the study were to determine the extent of listener ad-skipping behavior, the drivers behind this behavior, and consumer expectations for both the quantity and quality of advertising in their favorite podcasts.

For many ad-supported media channels, ad-skipping is seen as an inevitability; yet, in podcasting, there is both a surprising tolerance for advertising AND a defined set of actions both podcast creators and advertisers can take to reduce this behavior, including limiting repetition, improving ad creative, and respecting consumer expectations about how many ads and ad breaks they generally perceive in their favorite shows.

Key findings from the study include:

• 46% of listeners say they “always or often” skip ads on podcasts. However, when asked about the last specific episode they consumed, that percentage dropped substantially.
• 28% of listeners say they listen to “all of the ads” on podcasts, the highest percentage among all media channels tested.
• Lack of interest/relevance (37%) and familiarity with the advertised product/service (28%) are the primary motivators for skipping ads.
• Most listeners (56-59%) feel the number of ad breaks in their favorite podcast is just right.
• 73% expect to hear 2-3 ads in a typical episode of their favorite podcast, with most preferring 1-2 breaks.
• Ad repetition decreases interest in the advertised product/service for 26% of listeners and decreases attention to the podcast for 23%.

“The encouraging thing about this study is that the consumer tolerance for ads in podcasts isn’t zero - they expect to hear ads,” said Tom Webster, partner at Sounds Profitable. “While skipping ads happens in any ad-supported medium, podcasting has the ability to mitigate much of that behavior like few other platforms, if we just respect the listeners’ expectations.”

Methodology: Ad Nauseam was sponsored by Wondery, Betterhelp, ESPN Podcasts, Libsyn Ads, SiriusXM Podcast Network, NPR, and Paramount in partnership with Sounds Profitable. The study was conducted by Signal Hill Insights and comprised an online study of 1,011 US weekly podcast listeners, ages 18+, weighted to US Census Data.

To review the full findings from Ad Nauseam, download a free copy here.