Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager is going to be opening up their option to buy audio ads programmatically to all advertisers. This will allow all marketers to purchase ad space on platforms like Google Play Music, Spotify, TuneIn, and SoundCloud. In addition, Pandora will be added to that list in the near future.
Audio ads can be very effective, and in most cases you will be playing them to an engaged audience that will be listening to the full ad, which is very important.
In the last year this type of advertisement generated more than $1.6 billion according to a recent report from the IAB. This is up by 39% over the numbers from 2016. About 75% of that revenue was directed to mobile devices.
Zuzanna Gierlinska, the head of programmatic, Europe at Spotify, released a statement on this move saying, “We are thrilled to see DoubleClick embracing programmatic audio. This launch makes it possible for Bid Manager customers to reach Spotify’s highly engaged audience across video, display and audio formats.”
Advertisers will simply need to upload their .mp3 audio spots to the system, and configure the settings to get their ads played on these platforms. Ad spots can be 15 or 30-seconds long, and can also include an image or HTML5 asset.
This is a great opportunity for many marketers who are looking to get their products in front of a captive and engaged audience.